Boks v England: Ticket sales suggest good crowd for Ellis Park Test
· Citizen
While specific sales figures have not been forthcoming, Ellis Park should have around 55,000 fans in the stands when the Springboks and England face off in the first Nations Championship clash between them in Joburg this Saturday (kick-off 5.40pm).
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The capacity of Ellis Park, home of the Boks’ 1995 Rugby World Cup final triumph against New Zealand, is around 62,500.
SA Rugby told The Citizen on Wednesday that assertions of a lack of interest in the Test were unfounded and not supported by the actual sales data.
Weekend reports indicated that by the middle of last week – 10 days out from the Test match – only 21,000 tickets had been sold.
“SA Rugby hopes to get close to the historic average against England in South Africa of 91% of the stadiums’ capacity in a market in which tickets are on sale for four Test matches and two provincial matches against the touring All Blacks,” said a SA Rugby spokesperson.
International matches this season
Besides the Boks’ Test at Ellis Park on Saturday, there are five other high-profile international matches taking place in Gauteng this season.
In Pretoria next weekend, the Boks face Scotland, also in the Nations Championship, while Rassie Erasmus’ team face the All Blacks in two Tests in Joburg later this season, at Ellis Park on 22 August and at FNB Stadium on 5 September.
Additionally, the touring All Blacks, who’ll be in South Africa for a month as part of their Greatest Rivalry tour, will also face provincial sides the Bulls, on 11 August, and the Lions, on 25 August.
The last time the Boks and England squared off at Ellis Park, on 9 June 2018, there were 55,260 fans in the stands – similar to what is anticipated this weekend. The Boks won that match 42-39.
Last season, for the Boks’ shock loss of 38-22 against Australia, there were 51,330 spectators inside Ellis Park.