Welsh fans have snapped up more than 230,000 tickets for the four games in this Autumn’s Invesco Perpetual Series, with the sold-out signs already having gone up on public sales for the matches against New Zealand and Australia.
While there are limited hospitality packages left for those two matches, there are still tickets available for the matches against 2011 World Cup opponents Samoa on Friday, 13 November and Argentina, who finished third in the 2007 World Cup, eight days later.
With the Welsh regions having done so well in the opening two rounds of the Heineken Cup, sales are now beginning to pick up for the Invesco Perpetual Series games, with more than 30,000 having been sold for the Samoan match and more than 50,000 for the game against the Pumas.
“The rate of sale has certainly quickened in recent weeks and the success of the four Welsh regions in the Heineken Cup has helped enormously,” said WRU executive board member John Williams.
“Warren Gatland always said that Heineken Cup form would be crucial to his team selection and it looks as though the players have responded to his call judging by the wins over London Irish by the Scarlets, ASM Clermont Auvergne by the Ospreys, Harlequins by Cardiff Blues and Glasgow by the Dragons.
“It means the fans will see Welsh players running into peak form when they are on parade for the national side next month in this vital series of matches. What a challenge it promises to be against three teams sitting above Wales in the IRB World Rankings and one of our 2011 World Cup Pool opponents.
“The Samoan sales have surpassed the corresponding figure for our 2008 Invesco Perpetual Series clash with Canada – that game was eventually played in front of a crowd of 58,000 – and we are way ahead of the sales for the last two visits to Cardiff by the Argentineans.
“They have played Wales three times at the Millennium Stadium. We had a full house when we met them in the historic opening game of the 1999 Rugby World, had 39,000 at the 2001 match that the Pumas won and 36,736 for the Welsh win in August, 2007.”
Selected hospitality packages remain the only way to watch Gatland’s Welsh side take on the All Blacks or the Wallabies although the top priced ‘platinum package’ for New Zealand and the special offer ‘Bar 10 package’ for Australia are also sold out.
Remaining tickets for the Samoa and Argentina matches in the Series are available from www.wru.co.uk, Ticketmaster: 08442 777888 and Ticketline: 02920 230130. Tickets for Wales v Samoa on Friday 13 November are priced at £15 for adults and £10 for children and tickets for Wales v Argentina on Saturday 21 November are available at £35, £45, £50 and £55.
Fans interested in purchasing hospitality for all games, which ranges from £99 to £279 per person and is now sold on an individual basis, should call the hospitality team on: 08443 722722 or visit www.millenniumstadium.com/hospitality.
