Ireland fans set up Facebook page to help frantic ticket swaps
Beleaguered Irish fans in Japan have set up a Facebook page to facilitate a quarter-final ticket exchange with their Japanese counterparts, as Ireland's failure to top Pool A has left presumptuous punters stranded.
The "RWC 2019 QF2/QF4 Ticket Exchange" event already has over 400 people listed as attending with fans scrambling for tickets to Saturday's game after buying tickets for Sunday's quarter-final tie in advance.
But with Ireland now playing the All Blacks on October 19th, Irish supporters are hoping for even more hospitality from the hosts in the form of a ticket swap.
Luckily, both quarter-finals take place in Tokyo, meaning both sets of fans should be able to meet.
The event description, written in English and Japanese, reads "Meet-up for Japanese and Irish Rugby fans looking to exchange RWC QF4 tickets (Japan v South Africa) @ Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo Sunday Oct 20th for QF2 tickets (Ireland v New Zealand) on Saturday 19th Oct also in Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo."
Former Irish international Bernard Jackman has already alerted the wider public to the existence of the page:
Seems like lots of @IrishRugby fans are looking to swap quarter final tickets. This Facebook page might be able to help. Please RT https://t.co/C7A4m27NLE pic.twitter.com/yIRKryelUz
— Bernard Jackman (@bernardjackman) October 14, 2019
Among those scrambling for tickets are RTE presenter Jacqui Hurley, who made a plea on Twitter for anyone willing to trade tickets:
Folks, looking for a bit of help please....heading to Japan on Wednesday & like loads of Irish ppl, we have tickets to wrong quarter final. We have 6 cat C tickets for QF4 we’re hoping to swap for QF2. Can anyone help?
— Jacqui Hurley (@jacquihurley) October 13, 2019
And Jackman was quick to respond with a link to the Facebook page!
Many more have taken to social media with the same problem, so hopefully the quick-thinkers who set up the page can help.
