Fans had to wait more than seven hours after the latest batch of Rugby World Cup tickets were released on the tournament’s website. Tickets went on sale at 9.30am on Tuesday with supporters venting their frustration on Twitter at the long waits.
More than 70,000 tickets were made available, 50,000 as planned and 20,000 in the form of returns from sponsors and commercial partners but fans encountered frustration in their attempts to buy tickets.
“I have been in online queue for rugby world cup tickets for 8hrs, 45mins,” tweeted one, Tom Andrews, and another, LittleMead, said: “I know British people love to queue but the Rugby World Cup tickets wheel of doom is something else.”
Whereas the first release of tickets was organised via a public ballot in September 2014, the latest tranche is being provided on a first-come first-served basis. Ticketmaster, the site running the distribution, was also involved in the sales for London 2012 and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, but sales for both were suspended because of the websites’ inability to deal with the high level of demand.
Rugby World Cup announced on its Twitter feed that the delays were being caused by the rush of people attempting to buy tickets, saying: “We are currently experiencing a very high level of demand for #RWC2015 tickets. If you are in the queue please bear with us. Many thanks.”
The setback for the tournament follows the departure of Debbie Jevans as the England Rugby 2015 chief executive – she stepped down for “personal reasons” last week. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph Jevans had said the website could cope with demand, saying: “The capacity we’ve built into the system means we are confident will stand up.”
More tickets are due to go on sale before the tournament starts on 18 September.
