Ticketek mistake: NPC semifinal tickets on sale, Canterbury over Northland before game played

Tickets to the NPC semifinal between Canterbury and TBA temporarily appeared on the Ticketek app. Photo / Supplied

A ticketing giant's behind-the-scenes work turned into a howler when a Northland Taniwha rugby fan spotted semifinal tickets featuring Canterbury for sale on his mobile app.

Ticketek jumped the gun: the Bunnings Warehouse NPC quarter-final between Canterbury and Northland, scheduled for Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch this afternoon, has yet to be played.

The company has admitted its mistake and has since taken down the post, but not before a die-hard Taniwha supporter Ross Vickers chuckled at Ticketek's audacity to look that far ahead.

His son Michael, based in the United Kingdom, saw tickets to the "Canterbury vs TBA" game in Christchurch on October 15 and alerted him.

"How audacious of them to do that? Canterbury are odds on favourites but on the other hand, Northland has proven they can beat any side in the competition," Vickers said.

The Whangārei businessman said the game would boil down to a few no-look passes sticking and just nailing their opportunities.

"I think Northland is in with a fair chance if they are on their game. They've got speed out wide," Vickers said.

Canterbury Rugby Football Union chief executive Tony Smail said the matter would be referred to Ticketek.

"Canterbury Rugby are certainly not supporting this, it will be hard enough to win the game without anything additional to motivate our opposition," Smail said.

"All provincial unions have to set up the system in the background in case they progress any further than the week ahead so it is normal but it just sits there until whichever union wins [which] activates the next week - these are never visible to the public," Smail said.

A Ticketek spokesman said the way its system was set up, the semifinal ticket in question could not be seen or bought online.

Taniwha fan Ross Vickers has questioned the audacity of Ticketek in the ticketing howler. Photo / Supplied

"It's not searchable on the website but it temporarily shows on our app as part of our preparation for the semifinal," he said.

Canterbury is paying $1.07 at the TAB and Northland $7.50 to win.

The match kicks off at 4.35pm and will be live on Sky Sport.