SA Rugby hit back at ‘erroneous and misinformed’ ticket sales reports for Springboks v England
Springboks fan at Ellis Park and an inset of head coach Rassie Erasmus.
SA Rugby has moved to dispel ‘erroneous and misinformed’ reporting of ticket sales for the Springboks clash against England at Ellis Park Stadium on Saturday.
Rassie Erasmus’ charges officially kick off their Test season in their Nations Championship fixture against Steve Borthwick’s men at the iconic venue in Johannesburg.
While there has been much excitement for the match, SA Rugby has been slammed for the pricing of the tickets, as many supporters believe that they have been priced out of attending the first meeting between the two nations in South Africa since 2018.
SA Rugby hit back at misreporting on Springboks ticket sales
Earlier this week, a SA Rugby spokesperson told Rapport that they were hopeful of selling 91% of Ellis Park’s capacity before kick-off on Saturday.
“The impact of the war in Iran has undoubtedly had an impact on everyone’s pockets, which is reflected in the retail industry as well as in ticket sales,” the spokesperson told the Afrikaans publication.
“We hope to get close to the historical average attendance against England in South Africa, which is 91% of the stadium’s capacity.
“Tickets will be available until kick-off, and we are hoping for a strong week of final sales for the start of a major new competition.”
It was reported last Wednesday that just 21, 000 tickets had been sold for the Test match at the 60,000-capacity stadium and throughout this week ticket prices have steadily dropped, with R950 tickets reduced to R650.
In a statement issued on Friday morning, SA Rugby moved to clarify misreporting of the forecasted attendance at the venue that hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup final between the Springboks and All Blacks.
“Predictions that the attendance would be little more than 21 000 were entirely erroneous and misinformed,” the statement read.
“SA Rugby hopes to get close to the historic average against England in SA of 91% of the stadiums’ capacity in a market in which tickets are on sale for four Test matches and two provincial matches against the touring All Blacks.
“Assertions of lack of interest are unfounded and not supported by the actual sales data.”
At the time of writing, several category tickets were available on Ticketmaster ranging from R650 right through to R3,000.
The match between the Springboks and England will see Erasmus equal Jake White’s record as the most-capped head coach of the South African national rugby team.
It will be the 54th time that he takes charge of the team and the former flanker boasts a better success rate than White, having won 75.5% of his matches. He also holds the record for the most wins as head coach (40) – four more than the 2007 World Cup-winning boss and eight more than Heyneke Meyer.
Erasmus has overseen six Springboks Test matches against England, winning four times and losing twice.
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Springboks’ coaches with the most tests
54 – Jake White
53 – Rassie Erasmus
48 – Peter de Villiers
48 – Heyneke Meyer
39 – Jacques Nienaber
38 – Nick Mallett
25 – Allister Coetzee
23 – Danie Craven
23 – Rudolph Straeuli
READ MORE: ‘Biggest fear’ driving Rassie Erasmus ahead of World Cup three-peat bid
