2011 Rugby World Cup ticket plans announced

Tickets for the 2011 Rugby World Cup will go on sale for the first time on April 27, 500 days before the opening match, organizers said Tuesday.

Ticket sales will take place in three phases, with about 750,000 tickets to pool matches being made available to applicants in the first phase.

The initial phase will allow fans to apply for tickets in "venue packs", which include tickets for all matches at a chosen venue, or "team packs," which include tickets to matches played by a specified team.

Fans who apply for tickets in the first phase will have the option of also buying tickets to quarterfinal matches in Wellington or Christchurch or tickets to the third-fourth playoff. Applications for those close May 21.

"This is the day that answers the question that New Zealanders have been asking since we won the rights to host Rugby World Cup 2011 back in 2005 ... how do I get a ticket?" Rugby New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said. "This is the day that fans from London to Pretoria, from Moscow to Buenos Aires, from right around the world, can look forward to turning their Rugby World Cup dreams into fantastic memories."

The second phase of sales, likely to take place in August or September, will make individual tickets available to all matches apart from the semifinals and final.

The third phase will involve a ballot for semifinals and final tickets. Applicants from the first two phases will receive one entry into the ballots for each ticket applied for in earlier phases. Any remaining tickets will go on general sale in 2011.

"This is an important milestone for Rugby World Cup 2011," International Rugby Board chairman Bernard Lapasset said. "The global rugby family has been eagerly looking forward to this day."

Snedden said planning for the 2011 Cup, the first to be held in New Zealand since the inaugural tournament in 1987, was well on track.

"Nearly five years after New Zealand won the right to host RWC 2011, the stage is set for a wonderful tournament," he said. "Our planning is well advanced; stadia across the country are being readied, Eden Park's redevelopment is on track and on budget and Stadium Christchurch is complete."

Snedden said significant transport improvements were being made in key cities such as Auckland.

"We are in great shape to put on a tournament that New Zealand will be proud of," he said.

The first matches of the 2011 Cup will be played on Sept. 9 and the final will be played at Auckland's Eden Park on Oct. 23.