Super Rugby chairman Kevin Malloy has defended the competition’s decision to stage three rather than five matches over the Easter weekend.

On Friday, the Crusaders beat the Fijian Drua in their final match at Apollo Projects Stadium, before the Chiefs crushed the Waratahs in Hamilton and the Reds then suffered a shock loss to the Western Force in Brisbane.

That meant the Brumbies, Blues, Highlanders, Hurricanes and Moana Pasifika all had the week off. It was the second bye of the season for the Hurricanes, while for the others it was their first at the midway point of the campaign.

But the decision to only have three games over an extra-long four-day weekend drew plenty of criticism with rival codes including the NRL and AFL staging eight games across Thursday through to Monday. The A-League - a 12-team competition - had six games from Thursday to Sunday and a further catch-up game on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB, Malloy said their “hands were tied” by factors out of their control.

“Six of our grounds weren’t available over the Easter weekend and we had two of our teams requesting not to play on religious grounds,” Molloy said.

“Historically we’ve found that our clubs haven’t been getting the crowds over the Easter weekends because people have simply been away.

“It was a combination of things to be fair.”

More than 11,000 fans attended the Chiefs' win over the Waratahs. Photo / Photosport

Religious grounds was a new factor considering all the teams who had the bye have played on Easter weekend in the past.

Easter is celebrated around the world to honour the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his crucifixion by Romans.

The five clubs who didn’t play have been approached for comment.

While they did play, the Fijian Drua said in a statement that their reasoning for playing away was a combination of both.

“Our reasons were more out of necessity. Easter weekend in Fiji is used by all other sports and religious bodies, who book out venues in advance for their annual activities,” the statement said.

“For a country with only three Super Rugby Pacific approved venues to choose from, we had no venue availability this Easter.”

Molloy said that if clubs ask to have the time off for religious reasons, they are obligated to follow through.

“There’s a lot of things that go into the mix of the draw and yes that’s definitely a consideration,” Molloy said.

“I think the fact that our clubs have struggled to get crowds and that’s a big part of their revenue is a big element, and there’s also the factor that with 11 teams in the draw, we’re in a situation where we’d either have one weekend with three games or we’d have two weekends with four games.

“We’re roughly midway through the season so strategically it made sense to basically give the teams a break over this weekend.”

Molloy said TV viewing figures are up slightly, but attendance figures are flat, which is a concern to the competition organisers.

Normality resumes this weekend with five fixtures.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.