It may be just under a year out from next year’s British and Irish Lions tour‚ but South Africans have taken a firm grip on the ticket battle.
According to SA Rugby‚ South African fans applied for 323‚964 tickets for the eight tour games next year.
The 2009 British and Irish Lions tour was dominated by the visiting fans‚ but the amount of South African applications for the once-in-12-years tour may have swayed things towards the green and gold.
Also‚ the fewer number of matches may have played a role in the higher interest in the matches‚ alongside the World Championship status of the Boks.
The British and Irish Lions‚ who will be coached by Warren Gatland‚ haven’t lost a series since the 2009 South African safari.
SA Rugby chief executive officer Jurie Roux said it was good to see SA fans getting first dibs on tickets.
“The last couple of months have been challenging as we fought the Covid-19 pandemic‚ and it was heart-warming to see the interest from South Africans to experience a truly unique tour‚ which comes around only once every 12 years‚” Roux said.
“As we’ve expected‚ interest in the three Tests was extremely high – they are two to three times oversubscribed – but we are confident that we’ll get as many people as possible into the stadiums.”
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