Just how many empty seats were there at the Aviva Stadium last night? The IRFU, still reeling from the ticketing fiasco of their own making, declined to communicate the official attendance with the best guestimates suggesting up to 15,000 seats remained unsold.

Some of the thousands of empty seats at the Aviva last night

Although the IRFU held its hands up at the start of last week and promised an urgent review of its ticketing policy, surely more could have been done to get bums on seats.

Selling tickets individually may have been grossly unfair on those who had already paid top dollar for a two-match package, but at least it would have brought thousands more punters through the turnstiles.

And the sight of the schoolboys section (tickets were €60 for the two-game package) almost two-thirds empty on what should have been a momentous occasion highlighted the union’s arrogance and greed.

If just 35,000 can be tempted to part with their hard-earned cash for the visit of the world champions on Ireland’s homecoming, how many will turn up to see Samoa next weekend?