Ticket price cut paying off

THE IRFU’s decision to offer cut-price admission charges for the upcoming Summer Series fixtures against France and England is paying dividends with over two-thirds of the tickets available for the two encounters already snapped up.

The union was roundly criticised for its prices and general ticketing structures for last year’s November internationals which left vast areas of the Aviva Stadium empty for three of the four games and almost 5,000 seats unused for the visit of the All Blacks.

Premium ticket prices for the upcoming world cup preparation games have been slashed however and are being offered at €50, which is exactly half the asking price for the November games last season. Schoolchildren can gain entry for as little as €10 while family tickets costing €60 — for two adults and two children — are proving especially attractive and are already sold out for the England game.

So far, more than 30,000 tickets in total have been sold for the August 20 tie against France on Lansdowne Road and the 40,000-marker has been exceeded for the visit of England a week later, the last of four Tests being played prior to the trip to New Zealand.

Ireland will face Scotland in Murrayfield and France in Bordeaux prior to those two home fixtures — as well as facing Connacht — and scrum-half Eoin Reddan is looking forward to the day when he can put weeks of pre-season training into practice on the pitch.

“The squad has been working hard during June and July, so it is a case of the coaches seeing who is ready for that first game in terms of pre-season fitness. There is a good balance for us in wanting to win those games but making sure that the squad can raise those match fitness levels.

“The intensity levels at training this week in camp have been really good. At this time of the season we probably don’t have the same level of contact in training as we are doing over the next week or so, but it has been good and you can see competition for places coming through as well.

“The home games against France, Connacht and England are a great way for us to complete our preparations in front of our home supporters, and they don’t come any harder when you have two of the top international sides coming to the Aviva as well as the local rivalry playing Connacht.

“Playing at the Aviva before we depart for New Zealand is probably the best outcome we could have had in terms of the schedule so we can look forward to a cracking atmosphere and a good send off before we depart for the World Cup.”