Brumbies fans to swell Super semi crowd

Travelling Brumbies supporters are set to swell the crowd for next Saturday's Super Rugby semi-final against the Waratahs to what could be a franchise finals record for the NSW Rugby Union.

The Brumbies' qualifying final home win over the Chiefs in Canberra last Saturday secured a crack at minor premiers NSW at Allianz Stadium.

The win sparked great interest on Monday among Brumbies supporters wanting to attend the semi-final.

"We've has plenty of requests this morning, so there will be a Brumbies bay," NSW Rugby Union chief executive officer Jason Allen told AAP on Monday.

"I think there's a lot of interest, I think they will come up in the thousands."

Allen said around two thirds of tickets to the 44.000 capacity stadium had already been sold.

He was hoping for a crowd of 35-37,000, well above the Waratahs' season-best attendance of just under 30,000 for this month's regular season clash with the Brumbies at the larger ANZ Stadium.

"While most codes have been going backwards (in attendances), we've been growing," Allen said.

"That's a good sign, an indicator for this Saturday night, and we'd like to see a bumper crowd and I think it will be quite a spectacle as well."

All three of the Waratahs' previous home semi-finals have attracted over 30,000.

The 2002 clash with the Brumbies drew 35,462, the Bulls semi in 2005 attracted 34,323 and the 2008 tussle with the Sharks pulled in 32,350 spectators.

The Waratahs are averaging close to 20,000 this year, a healthy increase on last season.

While he wouldn't speculate on how much the finals fixtures could be worth, Allen stressed the benefits transcended the additional financial revenue they would generate.

"I think people get caught up in the economics. That's important of course for sustainability, but I think for the health of rugby, it's just great to be playing finals rugby back here in Sydney," Allen said.

Allen praised a Waratahs football department headed by coach Michael Cheika for assembling a team that was entertaining as well as winning.