6 Nations: Big crowd expected in Italy

No women's internationals today, but still some remarkable news that yet again shows what a step change there has been in the appreciation of the women's game.

Yesterday morning - more that 48 hours ahead of kick-off - over 1,000 tickets had already been sold for the game between Italy and Ireland at Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini in Rovigo (right), a ground that only takes 5,000. With spectators turning up on the day there promises to be an amazing atmosphere at the day's most exciting and intriguing battle.

To put this into some sort of context, only 12 months ago it was thought that 3,000 seats for the World Cup would be adequate - its not impossible that Italy (who did not even qualify for the World Cup) could end up with a bigger attendance for their first home game than England had for their first three WRWC games in the summer. It will almost certainly be better than France attracted for their game against Scotland yesterday evening (about 1,000 according to those who were there).

Admittedly Rugby Rovigo have been puting in a heck of an effort to sell this game, including billboard posters along major roads (see left) as well as all sorts of pre-match entertainment, including youth choirs and "musical interludes". They therefore fully deserve the success they look like having.

It will be interesting to see what sort of crowds the Home Nations manage to attract for their games - if they get anything less than a couple of thousand for any game then maybe they need to talk to the marketing people of Rovigo!