News: The IRFU expect to announce later today that the North Terrace will be open for the second instalment of the autumn internationals, against Australia this coming weekend.
Owing to a fire on the terrace last Friday evening 7,500 ticket-holders were denied access to the ground on Saturday.
"Indications are that the terrace will be reopened for the Australia game but this is subject to the relevant authorities, the fire officer and engineer, signing off on a report," said an IRFU spokesman.
The fire may have been sparked by a chemical reaction when construction workers were sealing a crack on the terrace with expanding foam. This theory was attributed to the district officer for the Dublin Fire Brigade Desmond Colliton on the New Zealand website newstalkzb.com. The IRFU refused to confirm or deny this until the full investigation is completed later today. A Havelock Square residence said a distinctive blaze was not evident but a lot of black smoke was visible.
From 11.30am onwards on Saturday, ticket holders, mostly Kiwi, began arriving in dribs and drabs to the area, more in hope than optimism. Early arrivals were redirected to the Berkeley Court area, were they were told of a "possibility" of admission on a first-come-first-served basis. However, when this reporter enquired about the validity of such statements the stewards and Garda reiterated the IRFU stance of no access for North Terrace ticket-holders under any circumstances.
Tony and Mary Rae travelled over 12,000 miles from Invercargill, on the southernmost tip of the South Island, to visit their son, Kirk, and see the game.
"It's an unreal situation really and such a pity as it's a good day for a rugby match but we can't do much about it so we're going up to a pub called Kielys in Donnybrook to watch it there," said Tony.
Most New Zealanders were in a similar situation to that of Phil Springford from Wellington. Now living in London, Phil travelled with a group of compatriots to follow the All Blacks' quest for the Grand Slam but learned of their misfortune on the morning of the game.
"There are eight of us over. We got our tickets through a tour company but there isn't much they can do. I paid £400 for a ticket, a hotel and a flight - that's 1,000 Kiwi dollars. This also happened last week as some of our mates bought counterfeit tickets for the Welsh game.
"It's €250 to buy one off the touts so I'm watching it in the pub. A concrete fire? Who could imagine it?" he added before joining hundreds of other locked-out fans around the local pubs.
Those who bought directly off the IRFU were forced to spend €35 as it was a package deal that included Saturday week's match against Romania, increasing the union's losses to €262,500. Details of how punters can seek a refund will be announced today.
