Shane Williams column: We need success to win back fans from football

By Shane Williams
Welsh rugby has a very real battle on its hands next season and I don’t just mean from all-conquering England.
The external threats are obvious, with the All Blacks proving as dominant as ever in three back-to-back weekends and Eddie Jones turning England into an impressive force once more.
But rugby in Wales is now in danger of being swamped by the euphoria surrounding football. And I say this as someone who has cheered and celebrated every success from such as Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, and was in Bordeaux for the first game of the tournament.
It seems as though the whole of Wales has been gripped by football-fever. Even some of my most rugby-mad mates have  jumped on trains, ferries and aeroplanes, to get out to France any way they can, just to be a part of the Euro 2016 success.
The result is that hardly anyone in Wales is talking – or even thinking – about rugby, even towards the end of a tour to New Zealand. Who would ever have imagined that?!
Many argue it is the best Welsh sporting performance ever. My old mate Martyn Williams reckons the footballers’ achievement is greater than anything a Welsh rugby team has done. I’m not so sure.
We were both part of a Wales side that reached the semi-finals of a World Cup and I know just how tough that was.
Then there have been numerous Grand Slams over the years as well as countless Six Nations titles, and perhaps that is why rugby is being taken for granted a little.
You also have to consider Welsh successes at the Olympics over the years because, at the end of the day, Wales didn’t win the European Championships.
That’s not to say it wasn’t an incredible achievement and it is right up there in Welsh sporting history. Of course there has been the novelty factor of Welsh national success in football and even my wife, who doesn’t like rugby, has been watching the footie on the box.
To see 27,000 people turn up to watch a giant TV at the Principality Stadium just shows how much Wales adores any success – and rightly so. We’re a small nation and should celebrate every moment.
I bet at least half of those spectators at the Principality Stadium watching the semi-final against Portugal would also happily watch rugby. That’s why, in my mind, there is not a rugby-football divide in Wales. Yes, there are die-hards on each side, but most people are like myself, we just love sport and are attracted to success.
That is where Welsh rugby – particularly at regional level – is struggling and is in real danger of being swamped by football.
Community rugby is still strong in Wales. Every village has a rugby club, which you cannot say about football, and people still enjoy strolling down to the local club for a few pints, some rugby and a good laugh with their mates. And the Wales national team will always attract huge numbers and major interest. But the regions in the middle tier are feeling the pinch.
Local rugby is played on a Saturday afternoon and that is when people want to watch rugby so the regions face a battle to sell games on a Friday night, Saturday evening or a Sunday afternoon.
The national team are playing more and more Tests every year – 18 in the last 11 months – and that is draining regional rugby both of fans and players. There are only so many players and they need a rest after the internationals and fans have only so much cash for watching live rugby.
Let’s face it, when you’ve just got home from work on a Friday evening and it’s pouring down, most will choose to watch the Pro12 on the TV. And on a Saturday afternoon, you’re more likely to want to see the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium than Treviso, Connacht or Zebre.
But the biggest influencing factor is success. If the regions start winning then the crowds will come. So this is a big season for Welsh rugby to get things right both on and off the field because at this rate youngsters growing up will only idolise Gareth Bale, where once it would have been Gareth Edwards.