There is an excellent article on the financial boost that the 6 Nations has given the respective nations over on Heavens Game right now, with Wales raking in £73 million. But whilst that is all well and good it is the last line of the article that interests me…
Friday evening rugby proved popular for the second year running. The Wales v France match attracted the second highest TV audience – estimated at 10.5m – as well as a capacity crowd in the Millennium Stadium. The most watched game was France v England (15m).
Which means that the Friday night game was the most watched game aside from the Grand Slam game vs the two most populus rugby nations in the competition. 
That is an amazing stat and shows that, despite reservations from some fans, the Friday night game is actually proving to be a very popular experiment in the 6 Nations.
Now I have to say I am not a fan of this experiment. I can understand it, hell if it were other nations playing then I would love having a game a day over the weekend to watch rather than cramming it all in. But as it is Wales playing it then I feel something has been missing. Match day for me is a special thing. I start getting excited the night before and then on the day I have breakfast (usually cooked in a greasy spoon), read the Western Mail, have a few drinks – and that gets the day off to a good start.
Having to be in work before the day of the game (or even if I take it off most of the boys I watch it with will be working) doesn’t make it feel that ‘special’. A lot of what makes match day feel like it matters is gone.
If this makes enough money then it will stay, I just wish it wasn’t the case.
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