Some rugby clubs struggling to sell Six Nations tickets

Tickets for Wales' Six Nations matches have always been considered prized commodities - but clubs have described struggling to sell those they pre-ordered for this year's tournament.

Saturday's first home game of 2025 against Ireland is officially a 72,000 sell-out, but one club said it had lost £1,500 by having to sell tickets at a reduced price.

With Wales on a 14-game winless run, a number of other clubs are also finding it hard to shift the tickets they bought for the showdown with the defending champions.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said it had sold more than 140,000 tickets across Wales' two home matches, and encouraged any clubs with tickets to make use of their ticket exchange partner.

Rugby clubs apply for as many tickets as they want, with no requirement to order.

They pay the WRU face value regardless if they sell them all or not.

Prices range from £60 to £130 for adults, and £40 for juniors.

Neath RFC's ticket secretary Lee Llewellyn, 47, said clubs like his order Six Nations tickets the September before the tournament.

He has held the role for three years, but as fortunes have faded on the pitch, said there had been a noticeable decline in demand this year.

"It's the worst I've ever seen, it's the first home game so you would think it would be easy to sell the tickets," he said.

Mr Llewellyn also helps run the Facebook page Welsh Rugby Tickets Face Value Or Less, set up five years ago to help genuine rugby fans get tickets if sold out via official Welsh Rugby Union channels.

He said the group has highlighted the issue even more, as clubs are able to converse and share the issues they are experiencing.

Mr Llewellyn has managed to sell the club's allocation for the Ireland game but still has England tickets available.

"The price is something people are constantly aware about, the jump from the cheapest to the next one up is what I've noticed," he said.

"We ordered around 400, and have around 170 left for the England game.

"People are waiting until this week to try and get some reduced tickets."

The WRU pointed out all proceeds from the internationals they host at Principality Stadium are fed back into the whole game in Wales.

They said that their annual report last year showed that approximately "65% of the WRU's turnover comes from hosting these games and associated commercial activities", and noted rugby clubs members have the right to first access for tickets, but only if they want them.

Those tickets were available for clubs to order from July last year, while public sale was September before two sell outs were announced in January.

Mike Scourfield is chairman at Pembroke Dock Harlequins, and has been in charge of selling tickets on behalf of the club for 15 years.

He has also seen a drop in demand, adding: "Ireland and England games have always been easy to sell", but rising prices have put people off.

While he understands the WRU has to operate like a business, he added: "It's frustrating, the last two weeks have been a nightmare trying not to lose my club money."

Mr Scourfield said his club are at about a £1,500 loss, having had to reduce their ticket prices to ensure they make at least some of the money back.

Paul Driscoll is chairman and ticket secretary for Cardiff Harlequins, who have managed to sell their allocation for the game this weekend.

But he said it has been an issue in the past.

"We were burnt last year on the Mother's Day fixture against France, the club lost around £2,000 due to having to sell at a reduced price," he said.

Paul added that all the "risk" was on the club to ensure they could sell tickets at full price but added that a scheme that would enable clubs to send tickets back to the WRU would be useful.

"If clubs could prove they have done everything they can to ensure they have tried to sell the tickets, then three to four weeks before the game they can return them to the WRU to sell through official channels," he said.

A WRU spokesperson said clubs with tickets were strongly encouraged to make use of its ticket exchange partner Seat Unique.

They said: "We have sold in excess of 140,000 tickets across our two home matches against England and Ireland and announced sell-outs for both fixtures in January.

"It is always the case that, with such a high volume of tickets, circumstances can change for some people meaning they would like to pass on the tickets."

They added that while member clubs have a "constitutional right" to access tickets ahead of public sales, they do not need to buy any.

Men's Six Nations: Wales v Ireland

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 22 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT

Coverage: Watch on BBC One and S4C. Listen live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Sounds; text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website and app.