Australians slow to buy World Cup tickets

Australia's fans jubilant after their win against the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup 2003 Semi-final. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Australian rugby fans ... where the bloody hell are ya? It seems the Wallabies' on-field struggles have been felt in the offices of Rugby New Zealand 2011.

Phase One ticket sales figures were released yesterday and the numbers were strong with 503,000 tickets sold, a fifth of them overseas, bringing in $76 million. That figure would have been higher but for our transtasman neighbours being slower on the uptake.

Just 2000 Australian Follow Your Team ticket packages have been bought, compared with 3500 for the Springboks. With 5500 packages sold in Australia, it appears the expat community is mobilising much faster than the Aussies.

Asked if he expected more Wallaby team packs to be sold, RNZ 2011 boss Martin Snedden said: "The simple answer is yes."

After discussions with Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill, several explanations have emerged, including that Australia's proximity means rugby fans there are lulled into thinking they can leave buying tickets until much later.

Australians are also buying official travel and hospitality packages, which are counted separately from the tickets sold directly by RNZ 2011.

But the excuse that will have the most resonance with All Black fans is that there is waning optimism that the two-time champions can mount a decent challenge for the Webb Ellis Trophy.

"There's a suggestion rugby has been on a bit of a downer in Australia, so maybe that's affected things a bit," Snedden admitted.

The Robbie Deans-led Wallabies are in the midst of a nine-match losing streak against the All Blacks and have not had their hands on the Tri-Nations Cup since 2001 and the Bledisloe Cup since 2002.

To counter the apathy, RNZ 2011 will be upping their presence in Australia, with a giant rugby ball being stationed at Circular Quay in the days leading up to the September 11 test.

"We've also got access to the ARU database, which numbers about 300,000, so we're able for this next phase of ticketing to communicate directly with them," Snedden said.

Reports of accommodation price-gouging could have had some effect, with Snedden saying there would be Australians who fly in and out on the day.

"What you've got on the market at the moment are a whole lot of options that are not so much mainstream and you can find bits and pieces that look odd," he said. "Most of the booking will be made online and the booking engines for all the major accommodation providers and airline providers work on a 12-month cycle.

"Once that starts coming on board [next month], people can see a lot more clearly what people are charging for accommodation and airfares."

Phase Two goes on sale on September 10, with about 400,000 individual tickets for sale. Fans can apply for matches of their choice.

"While tickets will be available for 45 matches, demand to date has been exceptionally strong for matches at Eden Park and the quarter-finals in Wellington and Christchurch," said Snedden. "We expect fewer than 2000 tickets will be available for each quarter-final and the New Zealand v Tonga, New Zealand v France, England v Scotland, and Australia v Ireland matches at Eden Park."

Rugby Travel & Hospitality, which manages the official travel and hospitality programme, said tickets were in high demand.

"Our global network of official travel agents ... are on track to sell more than 100,000 tickets ... to more than 30,000 overseas visitors," said operations director David White.