I thought I might and buck the trend and write something positive about rugby and I've got the facts to back it up.

By my reckoning, last night's Tahs - Brumbies game was the biggest domestic crowd for more than a season while the one day cricket finals struggled to make 30,000.

Even more impressive are the pay TV figures.

The Tahs versus Highlanders game topped the ratings this week, better than the A-League final, charity shield and the AFL pre-season cup.

These are heartening facts and figures for the professional arm of the game but as I look out across the open plan office here at the IBM Centre, Michael Doyle from community rugby catches my attention.

He's a livewire and everyday is Christmas Day to him. He tells me that junior registrations are underway and are tracking towards a five per cent increase this season. This brings a smile to my face (yes I do smile) because Michael's team is at the coalface of the game's future.

Amongst mayhem last night were a bunch of fresh new faces on the Australian rugby scene. It was fun seeing a bunch of talented Australian schoolboy backs playing against each other and while their experience is limited their enthusiasm and talent is energising.

Consider the subplot and the good news is that the pathway for these players is working. These guys have not come from the wilderness as they represent the good work done by many people over a number of years.

The fact that these players are stepping up quickly (as seemed to happen in the 1970s) is that they are being identified and conditioned at a much younger age than ever before.

Credit must go to the academies and national talent programme run by the Australian Rugby Union to identify and group these kids in squads and begin the professional training process from as young as age 15.

Rugby union is successfully competing in this age bracket with rugby league and it is giving these talented players a logical and obvious pathway to the professional game. The fact that these guys ran on the field last night is a testament to the pathway working.

The work is far from finished for these talented individuals but we would like to think that the crowds are turning up as much to see the new generation as they are to see the existing Wallabies on display.

The announcement by the ARU and NZRU about a Bledisloe cup match in Hong Kong will ruffle the old school but is also a shot in the arm for the game. I noticed in the New Zealand papers last week that the financial health of the game over there is in question.

This is a concern as they are one of rugby's strongest countries and if they cannot make ends meet then we all need to take a long, hard look.

New commercial directions are the only solution to pay for the professional and amateur business of rugby. It is no wonder the savvy are looking for new markets and this will not stop.

I can envisage people queuing for their plane tickets to Hong Kong now. It will be a rugby adventure and it won't stop there. News of the All Blacks playing a test match against Ireland in New York is also a radical and enticing prospect.

The change is not only happening off the field. The new laws are challenging but represent a new order. Everyone is trying their hardest to make them work and yet we will still need to battle the conservative establishment about their future.

When you see the Waratahs being cheered on by an environmentally friendly superhero mascot you know times are a changing but changing for the better. The future suddenly looks a lot brighter to me.