Tickets for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France went on sale yesterday (Monday, March 15), leading to a surge in demand as over 150,000 punters looked to get their hands on ‘pack’ tickets for the group stages. Killester Travel, which is the official Irish agent for the World Cup, won’t start selling its one- and multi-match packages until later this month, as per World Rugby rules.
Ireland is in Pool B along with South Africa, Scotland and two teams yet to be determined, one from Europe and the other from Asia/Pacific. Ireland’s group match schedule is as follows:
- September 9, Marseille: Ireland vs Europe qualifier
- September 16, Nantes: Ireland vs Asia/Pacific qualifier
- September 23, Paris: Ireland vs South Africa
- October 7, Paris: Ireland vs Scotland
The winners and runners-up of the pool will play the runners-up and winners of Pool A on October 14 and 15 respectively, which in all likelihood will be either New Zealand or hosts France – both matches will be in Paris.
Killester Travel has been the official Irish agent of the Rugby World Cup since 1999, and its managing director Paddy Baird said that even though its own packages won’t go on sale until later this month, it has already experienced unprecedented demand for tickets. “We had over 1,000 emails yesterday alone,” he told ITTN. “Even though the Rugby World Cup is still over two years away, Covid has made people determined to book something they can look forward to.”
