£1,000 for an England ticket

Lawrence Dallaglio: will lead England out against Ireland

A crackdown by rugby chiefs has ignited a black market frenzy that has pushed ticket prices for England's clash with Ireland on Saturday to a staggering £2,000 a pair.

In a bid to control the rogue hospitality operations around Twickenham, the Rugby Football Union have launched an unprecedented advertising campaign to stop tickets being resold, forcing unofficial operators to cancel events.

Pall Mall, who operate on an industrial unit next to the RFU headquarters at Twickenham, have informed 20 companies who paid more than £70,000 for their unofficial services that they cannot find tickets. They have told customers: "We are writing to inform you that the tickets for the above match have not been delivered by our suppliers."

The RFU have instigated new rules to try to control the lucrative market, with the Irish match the first test of the policy which revolves around four official hospitality operators licensed to sell 8,000 of the 72,000 seats available.

As a result, leading ticket agencies have been inundated with requests from companies desperate to get clients into the match. This is fuelling the black market price, which has hit £2,000 a pair and could go even higher.

Standard Sport has seen copies of letters from various agencies informing clients the tickets on offer are no longer available. Refunds are having to be paid out in unprecedented numbers as the market adjusts to the lack of tickets.

Internet websites are still offering tickets for the England versus Ireland match but Burton today issued a stark warning to anyone attempting to beat the system this way.

Former England prop Mike Burton, who runs one of the four official hospitality firms, said: "We are trying to accommodate major banks who have been let down at the last minute by companies who cannot get hold of tickets.

"This is the worst I have know it and that takes into account two years ago when this same match saw touts trying to buy tickets 15 minutes after kick-off for punters who were sitting in marquees after their meal.

"The guys now operating on the websites are selling imaginary tickets and are no different to carpet baggers. They put up a price and then someone says"yes" to the sale and then these guys try and get hold of tickets. They don't have them in the first place.

"The majority of the public wouldn't try to buy a black market ticket from a tout outside the ground so why do they think it is any different dealing with a website offer?"

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