Fans pay €235 for rugby tickets

IRISH rugby fans are paying up to €235 for the chance to catch their heroes in action during the Rugby World Cup.

Keith Wood and his team are one of the hottest tickets Down Under, with Ireland the only one of 20 nations to have sold out all their four first round matches.

According to tournament organisers, tickets are still available for 33 of the 48 matches, including three of the four quarter-finals, being staged just four days before the eagerly-awaited World Cup gets underway.

However, Irish rugby fans will have their own scrum in a bid to get their hands on much-coveted tickets for crunch games against Argentina and Australia.

Tickets for Ireland's final opening round match against the host nation on November 1 are reportedly like gold-dust.

"I'm travelling out to Australia later this month. I've had all my friends out there searching everywhere for tickets but no luck so far," said one fan from Wicklow.

Stand tickets with a face value of €56 are currently fetching over €235 in Australia, a 400% plus increase.

Ireland's meeting against the tournament's hosts is one of the top opening round fixtures, especially as Eddie O'Sullivan's charges were controversially ranked No 3 ahead of the current world champions last month.

Around 1,000 fans have travelled from Ireland as part of a package with Abbey Travel at prices from €3,450 to €7,250.