England to play Wales in Japan warm ups
The extra fixtures puts England and Wales on such a multiple collision course next year that they could be running into each other four times over a period of eight months, starting with the Six Nations in Cardiff next February and finishing with a World Cup quarter-final in Oita the following October.
No amount of familiarity can disguise the fact that England-Wales makes money like no other fixture. The Rugby Paper understands that the countries will split television revenue from the matches due to be scheduled for successive Saturdays in August.
A similar Anglo-Welsh alliance seven years ago before the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand attracted an aggregate attendance of 153,843. Whether it’s in the depths of winter or the height of summer, England-Wales is always sold out.
The steep rise in ticket prices ought to ensure that ENGLAND and Wales are finalising plans for a pre-World Cup double header with the potential to gross £10m.
The old rivals expect to agree terms within the next fortnight for fullblown Tests at Twickenham and Cardiff next summer designed to help knock each other into shape immediately before the global jamboree kicks off in Japan.
similar August crowds generate at least £9m in gate receipts alone and that is based on a cut in Six Nations’ charges given the lowered status of the fixtures as warm-up matches.
Wales, once proud to provide the cheapest tickets as a reflection of what was then largely a blue-collar following, have more than doubled prices in recent years to an all-time high of £100.
The RFU will take the cost of watching England to stratospheric new heights with a top charge of £195 against New Zealand in November compared with £89 when the All Blacks were last at Twickenham four years ago.
Both England and Wales will play at least 17 Tests over eleven months from this November and as many as 20 should either, or both, reach the last four of the World Cup.
As well as England twice, Wales are also planning home-and-away matches against Grand Slam champions Ireland, a four-match programme fraught with potential hazards before Warren Gatland, above, finalises the squad for his third and final tournament as Wales’ head coach.
England will undertake a similar schedule and use the last of their warm-ups, against Italy, to make a missionary visit to Tyneside.
The match, their first to be played outside Twickenham for more than 20 years, takes place at St James’ Park on September 6, deadline day for pre-tournament matches before the real thing begins a fortnight later.
Scotland, the first of the home countries to announce their pre-World Cup fixtures, will play four internationals on successive weeks, in France on August 17, Georgia in Tblisi on August 24 with the return legs at Murrayfield on August 31 and September 6.