Scotland set for historic Rugby World Cup with 50 days to go

1 Aug 2019

Rugby fever is gripping Japan as final preparations for Asia’s first Rugby World Cup are fine-tuned across the 12 host cities as the countdown clock reached the 50-days-to-go mark.

Scotland play in Pool A in the Rugby World Cup facing Ireland, Samoa, Russia and the tournament hosts in the group stage matches.

Today, organisers confirmed that 83 per cent of the 1.8 million tickets have now been sold, reaffirming confidence of a full sell-out, while the next sales phase opens next Saturday (10 August).

Japan is transforming into a stadium of 137 million people ready to be the perfect host to welcome the world’s top teams and more than 400,000 international visitors.

The latest independent research confirms a significant increase in awareness in recent months with 77.4 per cent of the population – a staggering 98.3 million people – aware of the tournament.

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “With 50 days to go, we are confident and excited that Japan 2019 will be a very special success on every level – it will break records and make history on and off the field as Asia’s first Rugby World Cup.

“Records will be broken during the tournament from fan-zone attendance to broadcast and engagement, but significantly with 50 days to go, we can confidently say that Japan 2019 is already proving to be a transformational driver of sporting and social legacy in the host nation and across Asia.

“The hosting of this tournament has paved the way for 1.16 million people to experience the sport across Asia, 200,000 in Japan alone, through our dedicated Impact Beyond legacy programmes in partnership with the JRFU and Asia Rugby, it has provided an important and exciting step-change for rugby in the world’s most populous and youthful region.”

The remaining ticket inventory will go on general sale at 18:00 JST on Saturday 10 August at www.rugbyworldcup.com/tickets, while official travel and hospitality options are also available. Fans can also purchase tickets via the Rugby World Cup 2019 official resale service which gives fans a safe and secure platform to resell tickets to other fans at face value for matches they can no longer attend www.rugbyworldcup.com/tickets.

With such exceptional demand for tickets, fans are being urged to buy exclusively from official channels to avoid being let down. For more details visit www.rugbyworldcup.com/buy-official.