Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup to go ahead despite ticket sales

September 8, 2010

Next month’s Bledisloe Cup rugby Test between Australia and New Zealand in Hong Kong will go ahead despite reports the match may be moved because of poor ticket sales.

New Zealand television reports have said the match, which is due to take place on 30 October at Hong Kong Stadium, could be moved to England because fewer than 10,000 tickets have so far been sold for the 40,000-seat venue.

However, the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union has released a statement saying: “The match has definitely not been cancelled and will go ahead, as planned, at Hong Kong Stadium on 30 October, 2010.”

Australia Rugby Union boss, John O’Neill, added: “There are no plans to cancel the match, we’ve got to find ways and means of getting ticket sales back to what they should be.

“The arrangements around this match are a bit different to the ones two years ago in that we’ve left a lot of the organisation to the Hong Kong Rugby Union, for which they’re getting paid a fee, and I think it’s fair to say we need to be more hands on and work very hard to make sure that it is a success.”

Hong Kong hosted the first Bledisloe Cup game on a neutral ground in 2008, while the fourth match of the 2009 series took place at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.