Six Nations fever sparks surge in ticket prices forTwickenham
Wales’ Six Nations Championship hammering of Scotland has pushed black market ticket prices through the roof for Saturday’s showdown with England at Twickenham.
The match in west London is officially sold out but tickets on resale websites are being sold for staggering prices.
StubHub yesterday morning had two tickets for the Lower West Stand priced at at eye-popping £1,750 each, and with additional booking fees, the final tally for the pair came to £4,252.50.
That pair had an original face value of £100 each.
Two tickets in the Longside Middle Tier of the ground were going for £3,280.50 after booking fees.
And tickets seemed to be selling fast with just 190 left on the site.
Interest in the clash at HQ has ramped up a few notches since Warren Gatland’s side thumped the much-fancied Scots in Cardiff last Saturday and they travel up the M4 with genuine hope of derailing England’s quest for a record three consecutive outright championship titles.
But the RFU have warned fans against buying tickets on re-sale sites.
An RFU spokeswoman told the Daily Mail: “We are out there every day monitoring, checking and challenging the secondary market sites which are advertising Twickenham tickets in breach of our terms and conditions. Our message to fans is clear – fans should not risk their money because we have the right to refuse entry to anyone who has purchased a ticket from the secondary market, so don’t risk it.”
Official tickets for the Twickenham Test were already the most expensive in the Six Nations, with the most expensive seat priced at £161.
The most expensive ticket at the Principality Stadium this Six Nations is £95 for the France and Scotland games.
EVERYONE has their own memories of Wales’ famous World Cup victory over England at Twickenham in 2015.
But Gethin Jenkins’ recollection is pretty unique. It also says a lot about the pragmatic nature of the man.
“I remember I gave a penalty away under the posts and Dan Biggar was screaming at me,” reveals the veteran prop.
“But I said ‘no, hang about now, we are happy here, that’s three points, we’ll regroup and get back up there’. And we ended up winning.” Such is the wisdom of experience. The 129-cap Jenkins played eight times against England at Twickenham and was on the winning side on three occasions – 2008, 2012 and 2015.
But it’s the last of those that stands out as the prop’s personal favourite.
“The World Cup one was definitely the best win because we had lost so many boys through injury and everything was against us, with England being the home nation,” he said.
“We were under so much pressure, but we turned it around.”
It was a win that was totally against the odds, with the Welsh back division being decimated as Scott Williams, Liam Williams and Hallam Amos all went off crocked.
So, what was loose-head Jenkins thinking as one by one the backs hobbled from the field?
“I just got my head down, didn’t I?” he said.
“In the front eight we don’t really take much notice of the backs. As long as they don’t make mistakes we are all right.
“What I do remember is Lloyd Williams coming on and making the difference on the wing.”
It was indeed scrum-half Williams who made the key intervention, with his burst down the wing and crosskick to set up Davies’ try.
Fly-half Biggar converted to level the scores and then landed the longrange penalty which put Wales in front, ahead of a dramatic finale where England skipper Chris Robshaw opted to kick for the corner rather than take an equalising shot at goal.
“I still think it was a 50-50 call on what they did,” reflects Jenkins.
“But for us to drive them into touch then was one of the biggest moments of the game.
“We had a feeling then we’d done it.”
While Jenkins enjoyed some memorable wins at Twickenham, he admits it wasn’t his favourite trip.
“I never used to like going there. I don’t think anyone did,” he said.
“England are a quality team. You know best case you are going to win by a couple of points. That’s how good a team they are.
“It is a tough place to go. You come in and you’ve got all the people in the car park with the stuff like that.
“It is a great atmosphere there to play under, but obviously a lot of it is against you, so it’s a really tough place to go.”
Jenkins won’t be heading to HQ this time around as, for the first time in 15 years, when fit, he’s not involved in Wales’ Six Nations squad.
“It is a bit different,” admitted the 37-year-old Cardiff Blues skipper.
“I knew going into the Six Nations I wasn’t going to be involved in it.
“It was about getting my head round that and getting used to being here at the Blues.
“You do get the flip side of it where you get a bit more time to relax. There’s a bit of a different feel.
“As an international player, you are full-on, full-on, full-on.
“But it’s on match -day when you realise how much you miss it.”
Jenkins hasn’t given up on adding to his record tally of caps, but acknowledges he is up against it given the current strength-in-depth at loosehead.
“I’ve still got ambitions to do it, but I’ve a long way to go performance-wise to get to that level,” he said.
“I haven’t called time, but I’m not stupid.
“Not even mentioning the first and second choices (Rob Evans and Wyn Jones), you look at the third-choice Nicky Smith and he’s been outstanding for the Ospreys.
“That’s the type of stuff you’re competing against and I’d be kidding myself if I thought I was at that level.
“Rob and Wyn have just gone straight to the top and are playing some outstanding rugby.
“You can see by how much workrate and how much he touches the ball how comfortable Rob is at that level.
“The challenge for him is now keeping that consistentcy for a number of years if he can.”
Wales’ exhilarating attacking play in last Saturday’s 34-7 victory over Scotland led to some comparisons with the free-wheeling style employed by Mike Ruddock’s Grand Slam winners of 2005.
But Jenkins begs to differ and he is pretty well qualified to comment, having been part of that Ruddock team, scoring a try in the Slamclinching victory over Ireland.
“You would be confusing to mix it up with that side,” he said.
“It’s all right saying you are going to chuck the ball around, but you have to have a structure and be organsised in your patterns to be able to do that.
“I think Wales were on Saturday. They looked like they had good calls in place so they knew exactly what they were doing and then the decision-making comes into it.
“They made a lot of good decisions to get that scoreline.”
Looking ahead to Wales’ next test at Twickers this weekend, he said: “It’s hard to judge England because they were expected to beat Italy.
“They’ve built something under Eddie Jones in the last two to three years.
“They’re going to be a hard team to beat, but the Wales boys will have some momentum.”
It’s been an injury-plagued season for Jenkins, who has been limited to just six outings for the Blues by knee and calf trouble.
But he’s now back fit again and ready to lead the team in Saturday evening’s PRO14 clash with Cheetahs at the Arms Park.
And, even though he is now into his 38th year, he has no desire to hang up his boots any time soon and is keen to secure a contract extension.
“I feel like I could still do a job next year, or even as a player-coach,” he said. “My preference would be to stay at this region and do something here.
“But, at the moment, nothing’s been offered, so I’ll just assess my options in the next couple of weeks or months.
“I’ve been here close to 13 seasons, but if things don’t work out, then that (going elsewhere) will be a consideration.”