Rugby College: Rugby World Cup 2015: Tickets go on sale for next year"s main sporting ...

By

Chris Leadbeater

PUBLISHED:

13:14, 5 March 2014

|

UPDATED:

18:22, 5 March 2014

It will be one of the major sporting events of next year, a feisty feast of tries, drop goals and giant men competing for the ball in ground-shaking scrums and line-outs.

And even though the 2015 Rugby World Cup is still 18 months away, fans determined to secure their seat at the sportâ€™s biggest tournament can do so as of this week â€“ with ticket packages already on sale for games involving the home nation England.

Battle of the big beasts: Tickets are already on sale for the World Cup clash between England and Wales

A six-week extravaganza, the Rugby World Cup will take place between 18 September 2015 (when England open proceedings with a fixture against a yet-to-be-decided nation from the Oceania region) and 31 October, when the Final rumbles into action.

These key matches will take place at Twickenham stadium, in west London, and tickets for both are already available as packages â€“ through travel agent England Rugby Travel.

Packages for the opening game (which will be against either Fiji or the Cook Islands) start at Â£279 per person for a combination of match ticket and travel â€“ or Â£479 per person if one nightâ€™s hotel accommodation in London is also included.

Up, up and away: Jonny Wilkinson kicks his famous drop goal (left) as England defeat Australia 20-17 in the 2003 World Cup Final – prompting captain Martin Johnson to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy (right)

The cheapest price currently on offer is

Â£179 â€“ for a ticket to see England play an as-yet unqualified side

(possibly the USA, Uruguay or Namibia) in Manchester on 10 October,

including coach travel.

At the other end of the scale, a package for the

Final, including match ticket and a two-night stay in a London hotel,

costs from Â£1399 per person.

However, of the packages currently available, the big draw is undoubtedly the titanic clash between England and arch-rivals Wales, scheduled for Twickenham on 26 September 2015.

Recent clashes between these two old foes have been gripping affairs, with Wales crushing England 30-3 in Cardiff last March to clinch the annual Six Nations.

The pair will also meet this weekend (9 March) in the 2014 Six Nations â€“ but come the World Cup, all attention will be on their showdown in the tournamentâ€™s Pool A.

Match-and-travel packages start at Â£299 per person, or at Â£499 per person if including a nightâ€™s stay in a London hotel.

The men to beat: New Zealand celebrate winning the 2011 tournament by performing the haka in Auckland

Attention, too, will fall upon

Englandâ€™s match with perennial contenders Australia, on 3 October 2015. Again, prices start

at Â£299 for a ticket-and-travel combination, or Â£499 with hotel thrown

in.

England and Australia

have met in four of the last six World Cups â€“ most notably in 2003, when

England were crowned champions following a thrilling 20-17 triumph over

the host nation in Sydney, when Jonny Wilkinsonâ€™s late drop goal

sealed victory.

The pair also contested the 1991 final, when Australia won 12-6.

The 2015 World Cup will be staged at 13 venues across the UK, including three in London, where the Olympic Stadium and Wembley will join forces with Twickenham.

Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leicester, Gloucester, Exeter, Milton Keynes and Brighton will also witness key fixtures.

And while England is the official host nation, matches will also be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff â€“ the iconic home of rugby in Wales, capable of holding up to 74,500 spectators.

An arena fit for heroes: The opening game and the Final will both be played at Twickenham

The tournament is sure to be hotly contested. England, as hosts, will be hopeful of adding to their sole World Cup win (in 2003) â€“ but will face competition from current champions New Zealand, 2011 finalists France, 2007 winners South Africa, twice former kingpins Australia, and a Wales team that are consistently lauded for their attacking style of play.

More information via www.englandrugbytravel.com.

Regular tickets go on sale in September of this year, 12 months before the tournament.