The Rugby World Cup is a tournament that has been cruel to Irish rugby fans in recent years, with tough groups and less than spectacular performances being an all too familiar occurrence.
Next year, the Rugby World Cup will be held in England, and Ireland are going to win it, so you really really need to be there. For this reason we are bringing you the definitive guide to securing those coveted RWC tickets.
Plan A: Get RWC tickets through the official website via a ballot.
As of tomorrow, September 12th, at 10am, the official ticket website for RWCtickets will open registration for a ticket ballot. Click here to access the site, and you can create an account in advance, then register your interest for particular matches once it is open.
It is important to note that this is not a first come, first serve, type deal. Instead the RWC are having a ballot for RWC tickets to ensure they don't all get gobbled up by the wrong crowd.
The key matches from an Irish point of view are:
v Canada (Millennium Stadium, 2.30pm, Sep 19 2015, adults £50-175, kids £15)
v Romania (Wembley, 5pm, Sep 27 2015, adults £50-175, kids £15)
v Italy (Olympic Stadium, 5pm, Oct 4 2015, adults £50-175, kids £15)
v France (Millennium Stadium, 5pm, Oct 11 2015, adults £50-250, kids £15)
The France match in particular will obviously be the most difficult to get tickets for, Italy may be tough too, but you have to fancy your chances of getting to Wembley for the Romania game, as we don't imagine the Romanian fans will travel in any great numbers.
Sorry lads.
Once you have registered your interest in what games you wish to attend and how many tickets you wish to claim, it's time to play the waiting game. Allocations from the ballot will be announced in October, and then any unsold tickets will go on general sale some time in December. So even if you are unsuccessful in getting tickets initially, keep your eye on that website in the following months.
Best of luck.
Plan B: Explore other online options.
Should you fail to get the RWC tickets you want in the ballot, then you're going to have to trawl through the likes of eBay, and other well known online marketplaces. As always, be careful, if it looks too good to be true then it often is, and make sure you're not falling for a scam, but there will be honest people who buy tickets and then can't go, so you need to be there when they look for a seller.
If all else fails, make like the Electric Picnic crowd and post an annoying status on Facebook saying "Anybody know anyone selling any RWC tickets?" and hope a friend of a friend will come through for you.
Plan C: Just show up and hope for the best.
This is something that Ireland is better at than any other country in the World. If there were a World Cup for fans showing up for the craic without a match ticket, we would win it every single time.
Take your chances that someone will be looking to offload a match ticket on the day, or hope to not get completely fleeced by a ticket tout outside the ground. If all else fails, you can still have the craic at the official fan-zones, and then the session after the match, so the downside isn't even really that bad.
Plan D: Head for the pub, and wait for this all to blow over.
"Sure we're never going to win it anyway."
Ok, so your'e not going to get RWC tickets in the pub, unless you win them in some ridiculous gambling wager ala Leonardo Di Caprio in 'Titanic', but if you can't make it over it's the next best option. If all the other avenues fail you, just go to the pub and act like you didn't want to go anyway. There will be a good atmosphere for all the Ireland matches, and you don't have to worry about getting lost in London at 4am.
But prepare for a barrage of envy-inducing Facebook pictures and Snapchats.
Again, click here for the official website for RWC tickets, registration for the ballot opens at 10am on September 12, so get your name in the hat and hope for the best.
