Wales Test in USA facing the axe

WALES’S Test against South Africa in the USA in June is in serious doubt due to miserable ticket sales and the impending collapse of the company which has organised the fixture. Wales are due to play South Africa on June 2 in Washington DC in a match set up by promotional company Rugby International Marketing (RIM). But RIM, which is part-funded by the RFU and Harlequins, is haemorrhaging money, with £3million lost by the end of 2017. Wales and South Africa have reportedly had their original match fee of £720,000 reduced to £540,000. It is understood the Test may need 27,000 fans to turn up at the 46,000capacity RFK Stadium to break even. But with only handfuls of tickets sold and less than six weeks until kick-off there have been high-level discussions at USA Rugby about changing the date, venue and even the teams — with the USA potentially replacing either Wales or South Africa.

Sportsmail has seen USA Rugby minutes from meetings in February and March which record major distress among board members. They also reveal that the USA Rugby Players’ Association lodged a formal objection to the match being staged. Industry experts have also told

Sportsmail that the game may collapse with no proper USA broadcast deal. NBC and ESPN were reportedly not given enough notice to show the match, which will be broadcast in America on The Rugby Channel, a subscription-based online service owned by RIM which is causing the massive financial losses. RIM was set up as a subsidiary of USA Rugby in 2015 and is tasked with staging Tests while making money for the Union. The RFU and Harlequins put £1.4m each into the company in 2015 and 2016 as clubs, leagues and unions try to crack the US rugby market. An RFU spokeswoman said: ‘The RFU is a minority shareholder in RIM. We are aware of the situation and are considering our position.’ Meanwhile, George North announced that he will join Ospreys from next season. The 26-year-old wing’s move back to Wales ends five years at Northampton Saints.