English must pay more than Scotland and Wales fans to watch Rugby World Cup

[ASFN Admin]

England supporters will have to pay more than Scotland and Wales fans to watch all four of the team's pool matches at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with ticket price ranges for 'Follow My Team' packs to watch England starting at £220 for the tournament in France. The first batch of the 2.6 million Rugby World Cup tickets will go on sale on March 15, with supporters who sign up for the pre-sale by March 13 then able to purchase 'Follow My Team' and 'City' packs. The 'Follow My Team' pack includes all four pool matches from a qualified team, with the possibility to add an optional quarter-final should the team make it to the knockout phase. Twelve 'Follow My Team' packs will be available, one for each qualified nation. Prices for the 'Follow My Team' packs with 2019 runners-up England range from €255 (£220) in the lowest category, to €1,045 (£900) in the highest category. Similar packs to follow Scotland range from €140 (£120) to €645 (£555), while with Wales, semi-finalists in Japan, the costs start at €190 (£164) and are capped at €810 (£698). France and New Zealand lead the most expensive 'Follow My Team' packs, with France topping out at €1,355 (£1,171) for category one tickets, while the All Blacks' top package costs €1,175 (£1,015). The City Pack includes either three or all pool matches in each of the nine host cities. In the ‘three matches’ format, fans will need to select two fixtures in addition to one being compulsory. The general public sale for 2023 Rugby World Cup tickets will go live on April 6. "Our ambition, in partnership with our friends at the France 2023 organising committee, is to make France 2023 the most accessible tournament to date," Sir Bill Beaumont, the World Rugby chairman, said. Meanwhile, Wales scrum-half Kieran Hardy has been ruled out for the remainder of the Six Nations after injuring his hamstring in the win over England last weekend. Hardy, one of Wales' standout performers in their 40-24 victory, scored Wales' third try in the biggest Test of his young Wales career to date. Wales will not call up a replacement for Hardy, with Gareth Davies and Lloyd Williams in the squad, while Tomos Williams, who started at scrum-half against Ireland last month before injuring his hamstring, is now available again for selection. "For Kieran, it's unfortunate that he has picked up an injury," said Wales assistant coach Stephen Jones. "Where that leaves us with scrum-halves is simple — we have got three left in the squad who are good to go. "He [Tomos] is ticking boxes as well and taking part in training, which is great. Kieran has worked particularly hard at his game. He's a very fit guy, he works hard on his fitness, and we thought his performance was excellent on the weekend, and it is unfortunate for him that he's not in a position to be able to be able to back that up." Fly-half Dan Biggar is nursing an injury, but Jones added Wales were "very optimistic" that Biggar would be available to face italy. Wales have also announced that flanker Aaron Wainwright (Dragons) and centre Owen Watkin (Ospreys) will be released back to their regions to play in the Pro14 this weekend.

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