Wales face the Irish at a sold-out Millennium Stadium this weekend in a match which could yet decide the RBS 6 Nations title, but the repeat fixture later this year could equally help define the 2015 season for both sides.
By the time Ireland return to Cardiff on Saturday 8th August – at the now confirmed Dove Men Test kick-off time of 2.30pm (with Italy kicking off at 5pm on Saturday 5th September) – both teams will be finalising their Rugby World Cup squads as preparations for England 2015 reach their peak.
Tickets for the game against Ireland are available at £50, £35 and £20 (£10 concessions) and for Italy at £35 and £20 (£10 concession), with the £20 category in both games offering by far the largest capacity (over 35,000 tickets are available at this price for the Ireland match and 58,000 for the Italy match)but they are only currently available via one of the 324 member clubs and districts of the Welsh Rugby Union.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland will announce an extended training squad in early June with the players meeting up at the state-of-the-art National Centre of Excellence during that month before training at altitude in Fiesch, Switzerland in July and then leaving for the extreme heat and hypoxic sleeping chambers of a Qatar training camp.
But Gatland’s first opportunity to find out if his squad’s meticulous RWC preparations have paid off will be on home turf against Ireland in early August. The squad then travel to North Wales for a training camp at Parc Eirias before returning to the familiar surroundings of another camp in Spala, Poland, the scene of the bulk of their 2011 RWC preparation, for eight days.
Next, there is a return fixture against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday August 29th before Gatland must name his final squad for the 2015 tournament in England – two days later.
And that 31-man squad will then gather to face Italy in the second of the Dove Men Tests on Saturday 5th September, with the kick-off times also confirmed as 5.00pm at the Millennium Stadium.
“Dove Men+Care are delighted to continue our support of the Welsh Rugby Union in sponsoring the Dove Men Tests,” said Dove Men+Care Brand Manager Callum Galloway, whose brand has a long term association with the WRU and has been a partner since 2011.
“We are extremely proud of our association with a nation that has such a passionate rugby team and loyal set of supporters in what is a hugely exciting year for rugby union.
“These two fixtures will be the last chance for Welsh fans to get behind the team and wish them well ahead of the Rugby World Cup; a sentiment that Dove Men+Care look forward to echoing also.”
In line with the WRU constitution, and as occurs for all WRU Home International matches, WRU clubs are given the first opportunity to purchase tickets to support the clubs, players, members and volunteers at all levels of the game. The WRU is urging all fans to use and support their local club by purchasing tickets directly from them.
Tickets for the two games are exclusively on sale in clubs until 20th April. If fans purchase tickets or place orders with their clubs before this date they will not only be securing a ticket in the best locations available, but will be directly putting money into their community through our recently installed commission scheme.
Orders placed with Clubs after the 20th April by fans don’t earn a commission, so we are urging all fans to place orders with their clubs early.
When the remaining tickets for the matches from the club allocations go on public sale (Thursday 7th May) from WRU.wales/tickets, the WRU will be offering fans 10% off for orders of 10 tickets or more and two adult tickets will come free for groups containing 8 or more children. There is also a family ticket available with 2 adults and 2 children being able to attend either game for a flat rate of £50.
“The only current route for fans to get tickets for these matches is to get in touch with their local rugby club and place their order,” said the WRU’s head of sales and marketing Craig Maxwell. “As the sell-out for this year’s RBS 6 Nations tournament has proved Wales v Ireland matches are always much anticipated and the extra excitement surrounding the 2015 Rugby World Cup is sure to capture the public imagination.”
Wales’ rigorous preparation schedule for the World Cup has left no stone unturned in order to ensure they arrive at the showpiece tournament in peak condition with leading facilities at home in Wales and across the world utilized.
The programme is the culmination of months of research and planning from WRU head of physical performance, Adam Beard, who also designed the 2011 schedule.
“The next year will be an extremely exciting and challenging period for the squad,” said Beard. “We have developed a rigorous schedule that we believe will give the players the best possible platform at the Rugby World Cup. We are working alongside leading experts in Switzerland and Qatar to deliver a leading programme and combined with our facilities at the Centre of Excellence the players will have the best of preparation.”
TICKETING TIMELINE
Monday 13 April – the deadline for debenture holders (including Clubs) to order their tickets.
Monday 20 April – the deadline for Clubs to order their allocation of tickets.
Tuesday 5 May – sales open exclusively to official WRU supporters club members
Thursday 7 May – tickets go on sale to the general public via the WRU.wales/tickets
THE FIXTURES
DOVE MEN TEST: Wales v Ireland, Millennium Stadium, Saturday August 8 – 2.30pm (BBC Wales)
Ireland v Wales, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Saturday August 29
DOVE MEN TEST: Wales v Italy, Millennium Stadium, Saturday September 5. – 5.00pm (BBC Wales)
