All Blacks v Samoa tickets set to go on sale

Transcript

Ticket prices for the All Blacks test against Samoa have been finalised and are due to go on sale this week.

Apia Park will have a capacity of 12,000 for the July test, with one third allocated for the cheapest general admission category, which will be available only to locals.

The interim CEO of the Samoa Rugby Union, Faleomavaega Vincent Fepulea'i, told Vinnie Wylie that all up about 60 percent of tickets will be sold to people in Samoa

FALEOMAVAEGA VINCENT FEPULEAI: The cheapest ticket, general entry, at the moment is about 40 Tala - we've just finalised that - and we're hoping to meet our deadline for the launch on Monday the 23rd. We're liaising very closely with the New Zealand Rugby Union also.

VINNIE WYLIE: Who's eligible? How do local fans get them? How many will be for New Zealand fans wanting to come over to Samoa - how do you balance that out?

FVP: All the tickets for the match locally will be sold here in Samoa, except for the allocations for the New Zealand Rugby Union.

VW: And what's the total capacity of the ground going to be?

FVP: At this point in time, including the seated and open stands we're looking at about a 12,000 capacity.

VW: If 40 Tala is the cheapest ticket what's the most expensive?

FVP: [For] the centre stand we're looking at 500 Tala and the side stand at 300 Tala and some other seated stand on the other side 200 and 100 Tala.

VW: So for a typical Manu Samoa match in the past - something like the Nations Cup - I think 50 Tala was often the most expensive ticket so this is obviously a significant jump for a lot of these higher priced tickets. Is that just a reality of what happens when you bring a team like the All Blacks over and how affordable do you think some of these seats are going to be for Samoan rugby fans?

FVP: I think because of the capacity of the field and the demand we try as much as we can to accommodate everybody but we couldn't and with a cash-strapped union like Samoa Rugby Union we are trying to recover our costs, in terms of hosting the All Blacks. Also, at the same time, a lot of the demand is from New Zealand. We wanted to restrict that as much as we can, in terms of overseas tickets, because a lot of our locals wanted to watch the game. New Zealand wanted to take as many tickets as the can but unfortunately the capacity of Apia Park is only about twelve thousand.

VW: How many of those 12,000 seats will be for locals?

FVP: The general entry we are selling is looking about 4,000, otherwise we're looking at 60 percent of it will be local and the other 40 percent will probably be tickets sold for people coming [from] overseas.

VW: Not all locals are going to be able to be in the ground for the match but will there be other opportunities, like coaching clinics or meet and greets with the players, in the days leading up at all so people get a chance to see the players?

FVP: Yes. Our sponsors are organising live screens in certain spots: one in Savai'i and one by the park, so people who won't be able to get to the game will be able to see the game. They are working at the moment with the local broadcasters here so probably a delayed telecast of the match and there is a draft programme of the All Blacks while they're here so that's been under discussions with the New Zealand Rugby Union.