English RFU takes action on ticket sales

Northampton and Saracens have had their international ticket allocations slashed as part of the English Rugby Football Union’s clampdown on black-market sales.

The two Guinness Premiership clubs were penalised after a number of their tickets for matches at Twickenham were found to have been sold on to unofficial operators.

Northampton and Doncaster, who play in National League One, are among 10 member clubs to have had their allocations cut by 25% for the next year, while Saracens face a 10% reduction.

The RFU’s business operations director Paul Vaughan said: “To maintain the growth of the game and participation it’s important that being a member of a club has benefits, including access to Twickenham international tickets.

“In line with our ticket-distribution philosophy, we will continue working to reduce the number of tickets reaching the black market by taking sanctions against those who breach our ticketing terms and conditions by reselling to unauthorised operators.”