{"id":15299,"date":"2016-11-29T12:54:20","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T12:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=15299"},"modified":"2016-11-29T12:54:20","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T12:54:20","slug":"state-union-wales-autumn-assessment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/11\/29\/state-union-wales-autumn-assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"State of the union: Wales' autumn assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANOTHER autumn series has come and gone. What has this Wales side gained?
\nNot a lot, really.
\nIf you had offered any Welsh fan three victories out of four before the first match with Australia, they would have taken it. But have three victories ever been celebrated more mutedly than Wales\u2019 triumphs over Argentina, Japan and South Africa – indeed, only the third win over South Africa ever?<\/span>
\nThe victories must be taken into context with a host of factors. <\/span>
\nThe crowds were poor.<\/b>
\nOnly the encounter with Japan came close to selling out. Why was it that clashes with Australia and South Africa, two of the game\u2019s greatest sides, saw 20,000 empty seats?<\/span>
\nTwo reasons stand out.<\/span>
\nTickets for the Japan match were going at \u00a320, whereas the other clashes saw prices north of \u00a360. That\u2019s a lot of money to watch a team in the throes of an aesthetic crisis. <\/span>
\nSecondly, a fixture with Australia or South Africa is no longer a novelty.<\/span>
\nWales have played Australia 11 times in Cardiff since 2005. In the 24 years prior to that, there were only seven such encounters.<\/span>
\n

\"72,000