Slow uptake for Irish matches

WORLD CUP 2011 TICKETS SALES:TICKETS for two of Irelands group World Cup 2011 games are selling very slowly, it has emerged. Over the weekend it became clear that sales for the New Plymouth tie against the USA were suffering, with locals being urged to take up the slack and help sell-out the 25,500-seater stadium.

But it has been revealed Ireland’s tie with Russia, which is being played in Rotorua, is also feeling the pinch as ticket sales slump.

Only 24 per cent of available tickets have been sold for the three RWC matches in Rotorua.

Rotorua events and venues operations manager Crispian Stewart admitted people may not be very enthusiastic because of the calibre of games being hosted in Rotorua.

“We’re not going to have huge games here. I think the Irish game is going to be our biggest, but still we are struggling to sell it to the locals – who will help get capacity in our stadium,” he said.

Rotorua will host the game between Fiji and Namibia on September 10th, Samoa versus Namibia on September 14th and Ireland versus Russia on September 25th.

Stewart said a lot of people would want to see All Blacks games but the prices were out of reach for most. He added, “It would be pretty cool for parents to take their children to see a Rugby World Cup game in their own backyard – prices are about $30 (€23) for an adult and $15 (€11.50) for a child.”

First up for Declan Kidney’s side is the USA, but so far there has been little interest in the trio of games on offer in New Plymouth. Of the 55,000 tickets available to the public for the three matches (Ireland v United States on September 11th, Russia v United States on September 15th and Wales v Namibia on September 26th), 16,000 have been sold.

Officials there are also pinning their hopes on the locals stepping up and filling the stadiums for the games. New Plymouth mayor Harry Duynhoven said he expected the whole community would gear up for the games, and people would pour in.

“There’s a lot of interest with a lot of inquiries coming through. At the minute the Welsh and Irish games are not sold out. We’ve even got the Russians coming here in January to play at Tikorangi, which should help stimulate interest.”

The slow sales have not come as a shock to Jenny Mills, RWC manager with the New Plymouth District Council.

“I’m not surprised, we’re about the same as other centres of our size,” she said. “There’s okay interest for the Ireland-United States match. Obviously I would have liked more ticket sales, but people bide their time. I’m sure momentum will build in the new year.”

Ground capacity for Stadium Taranaki, as the ground in New Plymouth will be known, is 25,500.

That’s a total of 76,500 tickets available for the three matches in New Plymouth.

Of that, a total of 21,500 tickets have been retained by Rugby New Zealand 2011 for their commercial programme. In the whole of New Zealand 864,000 tickets have been sold, with 90 per cent of available tickets at Eden Park, Auckland and 80 per cent in Wellington already sold.