Last chance for Phase 2 tickets to the Rugby World Cup 2011

(AFP PHOTO/Peter Muhly)

Friday, October 8 represents the last chance for rugby fans to apply for tickets to the 2011 Rugby World Cup before the second phase of ticketing ends. Available tickets cover all matches apart from the semis and the final, starting at $11 USD / €8 and rising to $270 USD / €194. Fans applying for these Phase 2 tickets can also elect to be entered into the Phase 3 draw for the semi-finals and final.

Forty-five games are scheduled to take place between September 9 and October 23, 2011, and it is Auckland's Eden Park that will host the most matches throughout the tournament, with 9, including both semi-finals on October 15 and 16, third-place playoff on October 21, and the final itself.

Christchurch's AMI Stadium and Wellington's Westpac Stadium will both take seven games each, in part thanks to the allocation of the semi-finals on October 8 and 9.

Other arenas in North Island's Auckland, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Rotorua and Whangarei, and Nelson and Invercargill on South Island, are to host between 2 and 3 matches apiece.

South Africa, current World Champions, defend their title against top teams such as world number ones New Zealand, neighbors Australia, and France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Argentina, Wales, and Fiji.

Nineteen of the 20 Cup places have already been allocated - Romania and Uruguay battle it out over two legs for the last slot on November 13, 2010 in Montevideo and then November 27 in Bucharest.

http://tickets.rugbyworldcup.com