Southern hemisphere rugby body SANZAR has reported increased television viewership and match attendances in New Zealand for the first part of the Super 15 season, but crowds in Australia and South Africa down on last year.

In figures released on Wednesday ahead of the tournament’s return following the international break, SANZAR said a cumulative figure of 9,916,300 people in New Zealand watched the 100 games in the first 15 rounds on TV, an increase of 32 per cent on 2011.

New Zealand stadiums averaged 16,842 fans per match compared to 12,217 at a similar stage last season.

Australia had drops in viewers and average attendances, while South Africa’s average match attendance also dipped.

But South Africa had a cumulative total of 34,074,497 TV viewers so far, which SANZAR called “a great increase”.