Super Rugby final a sell-out after extra tickets sold to queuing fans
Wednesday 1 July 2015 06:41, UK
The remaining tickets made available for Saturday's Super Rugby final in Wellington have been snapped up, making the game a sell-out.
An initial release of 29,000 tickets for the all New Zealand match between the Otago Highlanders and the Hurricanes, who are based in Wellington, sold out on Monday inside a minute.
Capacity at Wellington's Westpac Stadium has been increased to 36,000 for Saturday's decider, the Hurricanes first home final.
That meant another 7,000 tickets going on sale on Wednesday, and some supporters queued for up to 15 hours in chilly conditions to get their hands on one.
Neither team has won a Super Rugby title before and demand for tickets has been intense, with complaints being made about inflated prices on resale sites, with tickets already going for up to five-times face value.
Hurricanes chief executive James Te Puni has described the scalpers' prices as "crazy" and warned that tickets not bought through official channels could be cancelled.
But New Zealand's Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith ruled out government intervention, saying supply and demand was setting the ticket prices.
Live Super Rugby
"We've got simple rules in place around fair trading... but it's a free market," he told reporters.
Watch the Super Rugby final between the Wellington Hurricanes and Otago Highlanders live on Sky Sports 1 on Saturday - coverage starts at 8.00am.
