Rugby World Cup 2019: Why some supporters might not gain entry to quarter-final

Plenty of Irish fans might be forced to watch the quarter-final against the All Blacks from the pub after they bought tickets for the wrong match.

It was thought Ireland would top their pool and play South Africa in a quarter-final tomorrow - until hosts Japan upset them in pool play.

Now, many of the shamrock fans are floundering about Japan searching for tickets to swap for the All Blacks match tonight.

However, an obstacle they are running into is that the Japan fans would rather keep their tickets and watch the All Blacks play.

"They might have come from the other side of the world but they might be watching this game in a pub tonight," Radio Sport's Elliot Smith said.

"They had purchased tickets for one of the quarter-finals tomorrow because they thought Ireland would be topping the pool and be playing in that match."

Irish fans might be forced to watch the game from a pub. Photo / Getty Images

Scrolling through the Irish Rugby World Cup Japan Forum on Facebook, punters had been posting left, right and centre asking for ticket swaps.

Fortunately for some, successful trades had been made.

Micheál McAvoy told the Irish Times he put a request for trade on Twitter last Monday and also saw a Japanese fan post about the same thing.

The pair talked and arranged to meet outside a Starbucks in Tokyo and made the swap.

"A lot of people are going to get sorted, but there is going to be a lot of Irish at the match on Sunday," McAvoy said.

"The sheer volume of Irish people who have tickets for the match is outweighing the actual tickets that are available. There seems to be a lot of people looking for tickets.

"I know there are people who are going outside the stadium in the hope that they can persuade the Japanese to swap with them."