Rugby bosses in U-turn over ticket packages after outcry

RUGBY bosses have done a U-turn on the allocation of tickets for the autumn series of internationals following a massive public backlash.

As well as announcing a 21% hike in prices, tickets for the four-test series against South Africa, Samoa, the All-Blacks and Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in November were being sold as a four-match package at a cost of €340 for stand tickets.

However, following public outcry and consultation with provincial branches, the IRFU has agreed to allow clubs to sell the tickets in two separate packages – South Africa/Samoa for €150 and All-Blacks/Argentina for €190. Schoolboy packages are priced at €60 and €75 respectively.

The clubs will still receive their quota of tickets for all four international matches as a single package, but have the option to distribute them to individual members on a linked basis.

All international match tickets are distributed through the provincial branches and clubs. Any tickets that are not taken up through the normal channels will be made available through the Irish Rugby Supporters Club and following that made available for public sale.

The South African, New Zealand and probably the Argentinean games are guaranteed sell-outs, while the Samoa match would normally not attract much more than a crowd of 30,000 – although the move back to Lansdowne Road to the Aviva Stadium could be regarded as a novelty for many supporters, particularly those relying on an overflow of tickets.

These matches are priced individually with the cost of a stand ticket ranging from €100 for the matches against the Springboks and All-Blacks to €90 for Argentina and €50 for the Samoan game.

Earlier this month former Irish rugby captain Keith Wood criticised the price of tickets for matches at the Aviva stadium as “incredibly expensive”.

Labour’s Mary Upton criticised the increased prices, saying a 21% rise “is not justified in the depths of an economic recession when people across virtually all sections of society are experiencing a drop in incomes”.