Rugby World Cup Final pulls more than 500,000 on Nine and Gem despite early morning kick off

Australians and Kiwis came out in force on Sunday morning to watch their teams go head to head on the other side of the world for the title of world champion.

OzTam overnight rankings show 501,000 people braved the 3am AESDT start to watch the match on Gem and Nine. Those numbers do not take into account people watching in pubs, and do not include the Fox Sports broadcast which saw 292,000 people tune in on Fox Sports 2.

It represents a surge in interest for the code, after the semi-final between Australia and Argentina managed just 160,000 viewers on Gem the week previously.

Nine claimed a comfortable victory for the day with a network share of 33.6 per cent for audience, with the primary channel claiming 24.6 per cent.