November sell-out with Welsh faithful
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:00
Wales' clash with New Zealand in the November international series has been deemed a 74,500 sell-out and tickets for the visit of world champions South Africa are on course to follow suit.
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) went live with ticket sales to the general public on at noon on Friday and were forced to post up the 'sold-out' signs hours later with over 20,000 tickets for the series - which also includes clashes with Australia and Canada at the Millennium Stadium - being sold online, via phone lines and at ticket offices in Cardiff in the space of a 60-minute selling frenzy.
The clash with South Africa has also broken the 70,000 mark in the same time span as WRU outlets have been swamped with orders to watch Warren Gatland's Wales in a four-match campaign on home soil.
"We expected demand to be high for the All Blacks game, but to sell-out in the space of an hour is impressive and fans should now act quickly if they want to watch Warren's side face the World Champions, Australia and Canada, because there has been no let-up in ticket enquiries," said WRU group CEO Roger Lewis.
"The feel-good factor in Welsh rugby after the Grand Slam shows no sign of dying down and Wales' impressive showing against the Springboks in the second Test on tour this summer has obviously whetted many an appetite.
"For us to take our tickets out to the market place this early in a season, over three months before our Autumn fixtures take place, is a first for the WRU.
"We have given ourselves the best chance of bumper crowds by our proactive approach to ticketing these matches.
"With each of the top Southern Hemisphere teams, the top three teams in world rugby at the moment, coming to town and a Friday night fixture against Canada specifically priced for a family audience, the signs are that the Millennium Stadium will be the place to be for rugby fans this November," added Lewis.
