Three stand tickets for 2010 Six Nations to cost €225

TICKET PRICES for Ireland’s Six Nations home games in 2010 against Italy, Wales and Scotland have increased by more than seven per cent since the teams last played in Croke Park in 2008. On a day when deflation in Ireland hit 4.75 per cent, the IRFU say that their price for the 2010 season, which packages the three matches together, is good value.

A stand seat for the games will cost €225. That averages out at €75 for each match.

In 2008, a top stand ticket for the game against Italy was set at €60, while the games against Scotland and Wales were priced at €70 each.

The cost of a terrace ticket next season will be €105 for the games, with schools tickets running at €30 for the package. The premium level seats will cost €285, an average of €95 per game.

The IRFU point out that ticket prices have dropped by 16 per cent from last year, when Ireland’s two home Six Nations matches were against the more popular England and France.

“We are confident that we are offering value on the seat cost reductions on last year, and any increase on two years ago is reflective of the market and the costs involved,” said an IRFU spokesman.

In March the GAA put a price freeze in place for a year following dwindling gate receipts in 2008, while the FAI announced that they would freeze prices for general admission tickets in the new stadium at Lansdowne Road until 2012.

The international series in November featuring Southern Hemisphere sides Australia, South Africa and Fiji are also being offered in a package, which is no departure from previous years. A pair of stand tickets for the games against the Wallabies and Springboks will cost €140, or €70 per match

A stand ticket for the game against Fiji will cost €40 or €32 depending on the seat, but that game will take place in Leinster’s home ground at the RDS.

For the autumn series of November 2008, tickets for matches against New Zealand and Argentina, which were packaged with this year’s Six Nations matches against France and England, cost €170, or an average of €85 each.

The 2010 Six Nations Championship will be the last to be played at GAA headquarters, with the 2011 tournament scheduled to take place in the reconstructed Lansdowne Road.

Autumn Series 2009

Package (two games):Ireland v Australia and South Africa: premium: €180; stand €140; terrace €65; schools €20.

Ireland v Fiji (one game in the RDS): stand €40; stand€32; schools €5.

Six Nations Championship 2010

Package (three games):Ireland v Italy, Wales and Scotland: premium €285; stand €225; terrace €105; schools €30.