YES, RUGBY FANS, it’s almost that time of the four-year cycle again.
Time to cancel all plans for next September and October and figure out how to justify spending your hard-earned cash on travelling to watch top class international rugby -it’s the ruddy Rugby World Cup!
England is the venue for next year’s competition so you can at least rest assured that language and travel time barriers won’t be a problem. Though we can’t guarantee you that flying to Heathrow won’t cost any less than the 24-hour trip to Auckland.
Tomorrow marks the start of the great ticket rush. So if you fancy the idea of being a part of England 2015, now’s the time to be thinking about it.
On Sale? I better queue up now so
Not really. The Rugby World Cup are using the term ‘sale’ loosely. 10am tomorrow is merely the opening of their window for ticket applications.
The holders insist “this is not a first-come first-served basis”, so don’t go all manic aggression if you have a bit of a lie-in. The application window will be open for two whole weeks from September 12 to 6pm on September 29.
My seat won’t be guaranteed this weekend?
That’s right. For matches where applications exceed a stadium’s capacity, the RWC will put all applications for ticket purchases into a big virtual hat and award them by ballot in each price category.
The RWC have kindly provided a facility whereby you can opt in to ‘increase your chance’ of getting a ticket – clicking that button will bump you into the higher price category if you’re unsuccessful with an application for the cheap seats.
You can change your application throughout the two-week window and the site should also highlight whether games are oversubscribed or not.
No administrator’s gonna stop me seeing Ireland. Where are we playing? I’ll be there!
Ireland’s opening fixture comes against Canada in the Millennium Stadium on September 19. Then we go up against Romania in Wembley on the 27th, Italy in the Olympic Stadium on October 4 before we all head back to the Millennium Stadium for a battle royale against France on October 11.
So if you know someone who lives in Cardiff city centre or London, maybe now’s the time to book your place on the couch.
Canada, Italy and Romania don’t sound like the most appetising games. How much will these tickets cost?
The RWC is firmly on the defensive about their ticket prices. Especially if you’re judging by their FAQ section.
Obviously, they have their pre-loaded answer that these are competitive prices for comparable sporting events yada yada yada… but hey, we’ll let you decide:
Ireland’s Pool D matches in the Millennium, Wembley and Olympic Stadium are price-structured from £50 to £175 – except for the meeting with France which has the altered pricing grades of £50, £125, £175 and £250.
Think that’s expensive? Then you better steer clear of the best seats in the house during England v Australia; the most expensive seat in the group stage costs a cool £315.
41 of the 48 matches will have tickets priced for children though.
That much? Oh… what about the knock-out stage?
All going well, Ireland will advance to a quarter-final against the runner-up from Pool C (i.e, not the All Blacks) on October 18 in Cardiff. Alternatively qualifying as pool runners-up would pit Joe Schmidt’s side against the World Champions on October 17 in the same stadium.
All four quarter-finals are priced from £95 to £250.
Both semi-finals will be in Twickenham on the weekend of October 24 and the prices rise to £125 for the cheap seats. As for the the final, well, you don’t want to know (it’ll cost be between £150 and £715 per seat).
F**k it, we’ll go. When will I know if I’ll be getting tickets after the draw?
It won’t be long. The application window closes on September 29 and the RWC say they’ll let successful applicants know before they charge your credit card during October.
Tickets will be sent out during the summer 0f 2015.
What if one of our group pulls out? Can I sell the tickets on?
There will be an official England 2015 ticket resale facility set up next Spring before tickets are posted out. After that, you might want to keep it on the down-l0w.
The other end of the wedge is that if you’re not successful in the first round of applications you might pick up some late returns in the spring.
Wait, where do I apply for these tickets?
Right here, pal: https://tickets.rugbyworldcup.com.
You’ll have to create an account before making your application, but you can get that done today.
