You shouldn't necessarily equate attendance figures with popularity. Union as its played internationally would have to be one of the all time most boring spectacles to sit through. I watched the final 5 or 6 minutes of Italy v NZ and almost the entire action was the packing, repacking and more packing of scrums mixed in with collapsed scrums and a shirtload of penalties. League IMO anyway has such a superior product that the niche it has will continue to grow if some decent spending and planning is there to assist it.
