The WRU is coming in for heavy criticism over its ticket pricing policy and playing on a Friday night amid some 10,000 unsold seats for the Wales-France game.
A look at the Principality Stadium map graphic on the Union website shows tickets available across large swathes of the top tier, noticeably so at either end of the ground.
Those left on sale cost £100 and £105 and include a number in the alcohol free zone in the north stand.
In addition, numerous clubs are still trying to sell tickets they bought from the WRU as part of their permitted allocation.
At it stands, the attendance is looking at being just over 60,000 for the clash with the Grand Slam-chasing French.
That would be the lowest crowd for a Six Nations game against Les Bleus since the Principality Stadium was built in 1999.
Two years ago, the attendance for the fixture was 73,931, while in 2018 it was 74,169. Those were both Saturday games.
The last time Wales-France was played on a Friday evening was in 2016 and on that occasion the crowd figure was 74,160.
It appears the number of travelling French supporters could well be down on previous years, with around 10,000 usually coming over.
This could, in part, be due to pre-tournament uncertainty over whether fans would be allowed in for the game amid Covid restrictions.
However, if a lack of take up of tickets from France has resulted in more being available on public sale via the WRU, what’s clear is they have not all been snapped up Welsh fans.
On that front, the issues raised here overwhelmingly concern ticket pricing and the challenges thrown up by the Friday night scheduling in terms of fans getting to and from the ground. You can read why it is always Wales who end up playing Friday night Six Nations matches here.
Fay Jones, the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, has made her feelings clear on the subject.
She tweeted: “There’s so much the WRU could do to fill the stadium.
“Cut the £100 ticket price. Create a parent ticket so ordinary adults can bring their kids without it costing the earth
“Give women's rugby teams half price tickets.”
Adding his thoughts, veteran rugby journalist Peter Jackson said: "Wales are in danger of failing to sell-out France in the Six Nations for the first time in 20 years.
"Instead of putting the fans first by sparing them the logistical hazards of attending Friday night matches, the Unions are otherwise engaged, dancing to television's tune."
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One club official commented: “We are discounting tickets. We still have 12 left, but can see us giving them to club stalwarts. (That want them!)
“I really think the union has screwed this up.”
Another said: "My club were allocated 95 tickets for this match. Apart from a sponsor and a former player, only ONE current club member/player has bought a ticket for the match. Luckily we anticipated this lack of interest and didn’t take up our full allowed allocation."
Many members of the public have also expressed their views.
Here is a flavour of some of the comments we have received at WalesOnline.
“The cost of the ticket prices is the real scandal here. £100 at least for one ticket is ridiculous and the fact that the stadium isn’t full shows this.”
“Tickets prices are far too much for a Friday night. Travel arrangements are awful, hotels way too expensive, plus means a day off from work just to travel down from north Wales.”
“Don’t get me started on the price of tickets! The WRU are just milking the spectators.”
“This is the first time I haven’t been to a Championship match in Cardiff since 1974. Prices and Friday night kick-offs final straw.”
“The cost of a ticket, the train and a day off makes it simply not good value for money.”
“It’s madness with tickets being £100 or more. You are paying for two hours in the stadium and then going straight home. At least on a Saturday and Sunday you make a day of it and get the most out of your £100.”
“For me it’s a combination of the fact that it’s a Friday night, so can’t easily get to Cardiff in time after work/school for the kids, and price. Tickets are just too expensive for most families to afford.”
“It’s the WRU simply cashing in on a traditional rabid fan base who sadly now feel taken for granted for an unappealing Friday night fixture.”
“I don’t go to internationals regularly anymore because of the ticket prices. With travel, food, beer, occasionally accommodation it turns in to a £500 plus day out for me and the wife.”
“It’s a combination of factors. Prices and travel is a huge problem on a Friday night.”
Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is there are set to be thousands of empty seats for the match.
Former Wales and Lions skipper Sam Warburton has given his thoughts about that on The Times’ Ruck podcast.
“I can’t ever remember it for France before and that’s when France weren’t the team they are now. It would still be a sell out at home,” he said.
“I remember games against maybe tier two opposition and during the anthem you would look around and the top of the third tier looks a bit scattered and there’s not people there.
“It is a bit like where are all the fans? It is a little bit of a downer.”
Speaking on the same podcast, long-time Sunday Times correspondent Stephen Jones said: “Amazingly, for the first time I can ever remember, there are thousands and thousands of tickets left, which I find astonishing.”
Asked about the importance of having a big crowd on Friday night, Wales coach Wayne Pivac said: “It certainly does help.
“If, because of Covid times, a few French supporters haven’t come over, that probably won’t worry us too much.
“So long as we have got our regular number of Welsh supporters, we’ll be happy.
“There are a few seats left. It would be great to see those seats filled up.
“Both sides want to play an entertaining brand of rugby and I think you have got the side at the moment who are probably the in-form team in the world in France.
“We certainly have had a couple of great games against them in recent times, so I think it will be a cracker to come and watch.”
Yet, despite Pivac's plea, there are set to be thousands of empty seats and that may well make the WRU think again about staging Six Nations matches on a Friday night, given the logistical issues raised by a number of fans.
Only Wales and France have done so in the Championship so far, with the other nations refusing.
Back in 2017, the WRU decided to put a halt to hosting Friday fixtures.
They informed the Six Nations they were not prepared to stage such contests in 2018 and 2019, with then chairman Gareth Davies saying they expected other nations to “bear the load” going forward.
But now we are back with a Friday night fixture in Cardiff and a significant number of supporters appear to be voting with their feet.
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