New Zealand fans to get 3100 World Cup final tickets

2.00pm

SYDNEY - More than 3000 New Zealand-based rugby fans will be able to witness next year's Rugby World Cup final, according to ticketing details announced by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) today.

However, details on how many tickets will be available for supporters to watch the All Blacks' pool matches and hopeful progression to the November 22 final remain an unknown quantity.

The ARU has proposed 3100 tickets for the final -- effectively 4 per cent of the 79,542 available at Telstra Stadium (formerly Stadium Australia). Tickets for the final cost between A$195 ($231) and A$545.

An unspecified number of tickets have also been available for New Zealand's four pool matches, with the ARU today saying details had not yet been finalised by tournament organiser Rugby World Cup Ltd.

Of the two million tickets available for the 48-match tournament, 50 per cent have been swallowed up by the International Rugby Board.

Tickets available for New Zealanders, in the form of travel packages, will come from the IRB share.

According to the pricing structure, seats for New Zealand's opening match against either Italy or possibly Ireland at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium on October 11 cost between A$15 and A$80.

Seats for the second pool match against Canada on October 17, also at Docklands will cost between A$20 and A$50, while matches against a yet to be determined repechage team at Brisbane's Metway Stadium will cost A$15-75.

Quarterfinal tickets cost A$95-295 while the semifinals rise to A$150-420.

New Zealanders living in Sydney also have a chance to obtain tickets if they are members of a rugby club. They can also join the scramble for tickets in a public release that will see 300,000 tickets made available for pool matches.

Purchasers go into a ballot for 60,000 tickets for the eight "prime" matches -- the quarterfinals, semifinals, third/fourth place playoff and the final. The computerised ballot will be held on February 12.

The public ticket issue will be held between October 20 and November 24.

- NZPA

nzherald.co.nz/rugby