Fans turned up in record numbers to the Christmas and New Year fixtures in the Guinness PRO14 with Rounds 8, 9 and 10 drawing a bumper attendance for the festive season.
More supporters turned up during the three-round run than ever before as 11 sell-outs from 19 fixtures saw 216,077 fans attend games in Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
This comes as figures also show that attendances for the Guinness PRO14 are up compared to this point last season.
Cardiff Blues and Ulster Rugby led the way with sell-outs in each of their two home games while Edinburgh set a new attendance record for the 1872 Cup with a crowd of over 27,000 at BT Murrayfield for their game with Glasgow Warriors in Round 9.
The three rounds also accounted for a number of milestones with Scarlets, Wales and Lions full back Leigh Halfpenny breaking the 500-point barrier in the Championship while Welsh team-mate and Cardiff Blues winger Josh Adams was among 11 players to make their debut over the festive season.
Derby fixtures also provided a number of tight finishes with Round 8 producing the closest set of results for five seasons.
It was hotly contested right across that weekend as the 15 yellow cards shown produced a new record!
In total 109 tries were scored as fans got entertainment and nail- biting drama in equal measure.
