Rugby Championship: More than 700 'fraudulent tickets' cancelled for All Blacks clash against Springboks

Name: ANZ Sports Scene: All Blacks prepare for Argentina
Uploaded: 2019-07-19T13:27:30+12:00
Duration: 707 s
Description: Steve Hansen names 5 new caps in All Blacks side to play Argentina, The Silver Ferns will play England in the semi-finals of the Netball World Cup and we check out the Dota 2 ANZ Esport final at Sky City. Footage/Sky Sport

NZ Herald

19 Jul, 2019 12:22 AM2 mins to read

Steve Hansen names 5 new caps in All Blacks side to play Argentina, The Silver Ferns will play England in the semi-finals of the Netball World Cup and we check out the Dota 2 ANZ Esport final at Sky City. Footage/Sky Sport

New Zealand Rugby has been advised to cancel more than 700 tickets for the All Blacks upcoming test against South Africa as they take a stand against fraudulent sales.

After ongoing issues with tickets purchased on secondary market channels such as Viagogo, Ticketek passed the advice on to NZR. As a result the 700-plus tickets will not be valid for the match in Wellington on July 27.

NZR chief commercial officer Richard Thomas said cancelling the tickets was a matter of "taking a stand against fraud."

He said they believed the fraudulent tickets were sold on sites like Viagogo, but were unsure of the proportions that were sold and where.

"Unfortunately, it is highly likely that some of these tickets will have already been on-sold to unknowing fans on the secondary market and those fans may only discover their tickets are invalid when they present them at the gate at Westpac Stadium."

Thomas said fans who had brought tickets in this way and had concerns should reach out to them at Ticketqueries@nzrugby.co.nz.

"If our fans have brought through our legitimate channels of AllBlacks.com or Ticketek and have abided by the terms and conditions, they shouldn't be worried about the validity of their tickets."

The All Blacks game against the Springboks is already close to a sellout, and the cancelled tickets have been reissued and are being resold to the general public.

Thomas said it was a reminder people should only buy through legitimate channels so they could be secure in the knowledge their tickets would not be cancelled.

"Our message to fans is that if you choose to buy All Blacks tickets on the secondary market through online resellers like Viagogo, you run a huge risk of not entering the venue or having to pay inflated prices for tickets."

The match is the All Blacks' second of the year after they meet Argentina in Buenos Aires this Sunday morning (NZ time).

Earlier this week, Google suspended Viagogo as an advertiser after finding it breached the search engine's advertising policies.