Former Springbok lock Victor Matfield believes Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour organisers should have made matches more affordable for fans.
The tour opener between the Stormers and All Blacks attracted a crowd of 47,130 to the 55,000-capacity Cape Town Stadium, with high ticket prices – ranging from R650 to R1,350 – blamed for the unsold seats.
Just 14,759 watched the All Blacks take on the Sharks at the 46,000-capacity Kings Park. Around 25,000 tickets were reportedly sold, although cold and wet weather kept many fans away.
A crowd of 30,930 then watched the Bulls play the All Blacks at the 50,000-capacity Loftus Versfeld.
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Matfield believes organisers could have charged premium prices for the Tests while making the matches against the URC teams cheaper.
“With the Test matches, you can charge whatever you want because the people want to be there. They’re paying for the Springboks,” he said on the Rugby Rivals podcast.
“But I think for these provincial games, it would have been better if it was cheaper and you could make the stadium full. People want to experience this.
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“And the other thing that’s a problem – and that’s the new system where SA Rugby takes over the stadium – is everyone who has season tickets at Loftus or has a box at Loftus wasn’t allowed to use it. They had to pay again for their tickets. They had to pay again for their boxes.
“And people just feel, ‘Well, I’ve paid for my box, now I have to pay another R50,000 to get my box back,’ and they don’t want to do it.
“So I think we need to look at that system. We want people at these games.”
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Tickets for the tourists’ final match against a South African URC team, the Lions at Ellis Park on 25 August, range from R250 to R1,350.
While the first Test at Ellis Park and second at Cape Town Stadium are both sold out, tickets remain available for the third Test at FNB Stadium on 5 September, ranging from R1,650 to R4,000.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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