Stand Tickets for the pivotal Triple Crown match between Ireland and England at Lansdowne Road on Saturday week are fetching up to £1,200 a pair on the black market.
A variety of sources listed in yesterday's personal column advertisements in The Irish Times quoted between £300£600 for a stand ticket and between £50£100 for terrace tickets. While this fixture traditionally generates intense public interest, Ireland's thrilling win against the Welsh in Wembley last weekend has created an unprecedented demand.
A spokesperson for the IRFU has issued a warning to those tempted to profit from tickets received from official sources.
"Each ticket has an individual number which is traceable and if we receive a complaint that a ticket has been sold above the original face value we will take action, as we have done in the past," commented Philip Browne, the Irish Rugby Football Union secretary.
However, he acknowledged that the association allocates tickets "in good faith" and is somewhat tied if tickets change hands between two mutually agreeable parties.
Escalating prices have tempted Irish holders to offload their tickets in recent years and the spectacle of IRFU-affiliated clubs selling their allocation en masse is becoming extremely commonplace.
Recently Clontarf, one of the smaller clubs in Division One of the All-Ireland League, sold their full standard allocation to an English agency run by former England international Mike Burton for £75,000.
"It was a once-off situation and the general consensus was that the deal afforded us the opportunity to help us pay debts accumulated through development. We are a small club, trying to promote the game and doing our best to meet the costs of that. We knew the tickets were going to a reputable corporate source, which was naturally of paramount concern," said Clontarf PRO Denis Darcy.
Browne confirmed that the IRFU have done their utmost to ensure that clubs fully appreciate their position in relation to the issue.
"We felt that distribution of tickets to clubs was the best method of ensuring that members got the opportunity to see international games. That can be reviewed. There is always next year," said Browne.
The IRFU recorded receipts of £2,176,950 from the corresponding fixture in Lansdowne Road two years ago. Meanwhile, Leicester's Austin Healey will go on trial for a second time on Monday, March 8th when the English Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel meet the scrumhalf after his three-week club ban for stamping has been served.
England international Healey was cited by London Irish last week for trampling on Kevin Putt's face during the Allied Dunbar Premiership clash between the sides at Welford Road.
Leicester imposed their own ban of 21 days, which included only one club match but two Five Nations Championship games. However, London Irish objected calling the sanction "inadequate" and allowed their citing to stand.
The RFU have the power to add to Healey's suspension, the recommended ban for stamping on a player's head being 12 weeks.
Even a lenient extra suspension of four more weeks would eliminate him for the entire Five Nations campaign and deprive Clive Woodward of a versatile operator who plays both scrum-half and wing.
