That's essentially the question raised on Boards.ie in the wake of the Leinster-Leicester match. If you believe everything you read, it seems that the Aviva was flooded on Saturday with Johnny-come-lately's who wouldn't know Shane Horgan from Sharon Horgan. We only watch the matches at the Aviva from the Anglo box (thanks again, Seanie), so we haven't personally experienced any of this amateur fandom, but some people are well-pissed. May I quote poster Neil1984, writing Sunday:
The 1st 15 minutes of yesterdays match was completely lost on me as I was up and down in my seat every 30 seconds letting latecomers stroll in and take their seats. I know that this is something that happens a lot at Irish sporting events in general but my oh my is it annoying. Surely it wouldn't be unreasonable to stop people from rocking into the ground 15 minutes after kick off, and instead if you're THAT late you can wait until half time to take your seat? It's not fair on the fans who are there to actually enjoy a game of rugby rather than just be at a social event.
Some of the morons I saw yesterday seemed to have no interest in the match. There was a couple near me who came in about 13 minutes into the game, sat down and then chatted away with no eye at all on the game. Another fella, who came in about 10 minutes late, seemed to find the seat numbering system all too much for him so decided that standing in the aisle in everyones way was the best solution. Then when everyone behind him started telling him to get out of the way he became bullish and aggressive. Honest to God. If they want to waste their money that's their prerogative, but it isn't fair that their tardiness affects the real fans whoa re trying to watch and enjoy the game.
There's a serious amount of hand-wringing of ignorant, bandwagon jumping Leinster fans in the thread as well as suggestions for curbing the problem, such as closing the bar at half-time and installing better jacks. Obviously, Dublin GAA fans share a similar disrespect for kickoff at Croker, but their passion for their team is rarely questioned.
What can be done to improve the quality of Leinster support?
