AT TIMES it is easy to look out at spare seats at regional rugby grounds and lament the poor crowd figure but such judgements can be harsh.

Newport Gwent Dragons' attendance for last Saturday's Guinness Pro12 game against Glasgow (5,885) was larger than the Warriors enticed to Scotstoun on opening weekend for a replay of last season's final against Leinster (5,725).

Last weekend Newcastle attracted just over 2,000 more for an Aviva Premiership game against Northampton than the Dragons did for a friendly with the Saints, and the figure for that pre-season encounter at Eugene Cross Park would no doubt have been greater had Rodney Parade been available.

London Irish's clash with title hopefuls Saracens, their first of the season at the Madejski, was in front of 6,665 while 4,953 headed through the turnstiles for Sale versus London Welsh.

The Dragons had the lowest attendance figures of the Welsh regions in last year's Pro12 but their average for games in Newport (5,930) was still better than Glasgow, Edinburgh, Connacht, Treviso and Zebre.

It would also place them 43rd, mid-table, in the Football League rankings and the statistics about away support in the Championship, League One and League Two are of interest. The average attendance last season was 9,561 and the average number of visiting fans was 839.

By my admittedly poor maths that's around 8.8 per cent of the crowd coming to cheer on the visitors, a figure that if transferred to last weekend's Pro12 encounter would be have been 516 Glasgwegians at Rodney Parade.

It was probably more like 50 including players, coaches, management and media from Scotland.

There was barely a whimper when the final whistle was blown and the Warriors had secured five points. That contrasted starkly to the previous evening when post-match interviews with Exeter boss Rob Baxter were carried out with the Chiefs' tomahawk chop chant in the background following a terrific away win at Gloucester.

There is always room for improvement but crowds for regional games are far from a disaster when you take into account the absence of away fans in the Pro12 along with a variety of kick-off times and, unlike in Ireland, the presence of football on the doorstep.