Six Nations lifts World Cup ticket sales

The excitement generated by England and Wales’s unbeaten starts to the Six Nations has fuelled unprecedented demand for tickets to this year’s World Cup in Japan.

All but one of England’s pool matches are sold out and there is only limited availability for Wales’ pool matches following a spike in the purchase of travel packages since the start of the championship.

Figures obtained from World Rugby show that more than 100,000 World Cup tickets have been sold to supporters from the UK and Ireland, the highest percentage (38 per cent) of all tickets purchased by international supporters, with the greatest demand for England games.

World Rugby is now anticipating an unprecedented 400,000 international visitors, generating a record economic impact of £2.97billion, and with more than five million ticket applications received across the ballot phases, the Japan tournament is already guaranteed to be the most popular World Cup.

Australia are topping the travel packages which include tickets, with 26 per cent of sales, but the quickest-growing market is the UK and Ireland, which now accounts for 23 per cent of all packages sold.

Tickets are still available for Wales v Georgia, Wales v Fiji and Wales v Uruguay, Scotland v Russia and England v Tonga. Organisers say tickets for matches involving Japan, New Zealand and Ireland plus the knockout phases are also limited. The first-come-first-served general sales phase will remain open until March 31.

“Japan is proving the place to be in 2019 as fans look to combine the excitement and excellent experience of a Rugby World Cup with a new destination,” said a World Rugby spokesman. “The ticketing demand has been phenomenal – we have seen record numbers of tickets applied for and increased excitement during the Six Nations.

“Our advice is not to miss out on what promises to be a very special Rugby World Cup.”