Rugby: Bumper crowd is expected for next Murrayfield clash

Scotland’s rugby team look set to be rewarded for a three-try performance in going down to world champions New Zealand last weekend with a bumper attendance for Saturday’s vital EMC Autumn Test with South Africa.

The Scots must win and hope Wales see off Samoa to leapfrog Ireland into the top eight of the world rankings which would secure a preferential seeding when the draw for the 2015 global tournament takes place. So far around 54,000 tickets have been sold, a Murrayfield source has revealed, and that figure is already almost 20,000 up on two years ago,

However, there is still a way to go before the record crowd for a Springboks visit of 63,500 achieved back in 1994 at the official re-opening of a refurbished Murrayfield is surpassed, an occasion which marked a first visit since full 
re-integration to the sporting scene following the apartheid era.