Fans heading to New Zealand for rugby finals can expect pricey experience

PEOPLE BUOYED by Ireland’s victory against the Aussies on Saturday and suddenly keen to answer Ireland’s call can still get down under in time for the quarter finals, although the price may put it out of reach of most.

Over the weekend British Airways was offering return flights from Dublin to Auckland via London and Los Angeles early next month for €1,586.21 but there were only a very limited number of seats available with that airline at that price.

Assuming Ireland beat Russia and Italy in their next two games and go on to win pool C, then they look set to face Wales in Wellington on October 8th. People would have to make their way from Auckland to Wellington for that quarter final. Return flights from the two cities are available for about $500 (€300). Most of the good value accommodation in Wellington and Auckland for match days has been snapped up but we were able to source bed and breakfast accommodation on the official world cup site for the weekend of the quarter finals in Wellington for a not too shabby $300 (€180) for two nights; fears the Kiwis would do an Ireland on it and charge ridiculous sums for ordinary accommodation appears to have been largely unfounded. Accommodation in Auckland around the big match days costs closer to $200 (€120).

All told, if Ireland stay in the tournament until the last day and someone arrives over on October 7th, they can expect to spend €2,000 on accommodation alone.

Then there are the tickets. There are four categories of ticket available for the quarter final games. The most expensive, category A, tickets cost $491 (€295) while category B and C tickets cost $399 (€240) and $296 (€178) respectively. The cheapest tickets for the quarter finals in Wellington are selling for $194 (€116).

We may be getting ahead of ourselves here and tempting fate, but if Ireland win the quarter final tie then they are off to Auckland’s Eden Park, the site of the historic victory over the Aussies, for the semi-final on October 15th. At this early stage it looks likely they would be playing another team from the northern hemisphere – England or France, perhaps? Tickets for the semi-finals will set fans back more than the quarter finals and the priciest semi-final tickets cost $797 (€479) while the cheapest cost $296 (€178). All told, then, someone keen to follow the team until the bitter (or sweet) end on October 23rd will spend more than €4,000. This is roughly the same as many of the diehard fans already in New Zealand have spent. Many of them bought packages which typically covered 31 days and take in five matches including all of Ireland’s pool matches plus two quarter finals.

Prices started at about €3,500 and went up to more than €5,000 depending on the type of tickets and accommodation booked.

For our latecomers the price tag of €4,000 doesn’t even cover the cost of a ticket for the final (again, we appreciate we are getting ahead of ourselves).

Tickets for the final are no longer available through official channels, although we imagine a determined and ingenious person with cash will be able to track one down.