VIDEO: Will Ellis Park pass the Loftus mark?
NEWS: More than 20 000 tickets are still available for the Springboks’ last Test in the Rugby Championship, against Argentina at Ellis Park next week.
The stadium spokesperson confirmed that as of Friday afternoon, 40,00 tickets had been sold.
“We are at the 40 000 mark,” he told @rugby365com.
“Hopefully with the last push next week, we can reach higher.
“In 2019, the farewell Test against Argentina drew a crowd of [just] 29,380,” he addedd.
Earlier this week Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber made a plea to the South African public to come out in full force to support his team before they head off to Buenos Aires and then their matches against Wales and New Zealand in the United Kingdom.
He had hoped that Ellis Park could top the sold-out 52,000 crowd that watched their opening Rugby Championship outing against Australia at Loftus Versfeld a fortnight ago.
Citing the iconic stadium in the centre of Johannesburg as one of the most intimidating in the world, Nienaber said the last seven Tests at home in South Africa have seen sell-out crowds.
“Our last seven Tests have been sold out and the people have been unbelievably supportive,” the Bok coach said.
“It would mean a lot to us as a team to have a full Ellis Park,” he added.
“There is nothing more intimidating than a full Ellis Park.”
He explained how the next few weeks will unfold and said the time for experiments is drawing to a close while a number of players still need more match time under their belts.
(WATCH as Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber speaks about the Ellis Park factor in their last home game ahead of the World Cup…)
So while he was getting the answers he needed in terms of having the right game plan and the right players to enforce the strategy, he basically had the next two games against the Los Pumas, as well as the two against Wales and New Zealand to ‘experiment’.
And also trying to win the Rugby Championship, although that ‘was out of our hands now, and Australia really need to do us a favour’, Nienaber confirmed.
“If we don’t play our best players against New Zealand, it is potentially one week there, then one week in Corsica, and it would mean some players haven’t played rugby in three or four weeks.
“We want to go into the World Cup with momentum.
“It all depends on what happens in the Argentina game and what we are going to do against Wales and New Zealand.”
Nienaber referred to the difficulty of the Boks’ World Cup pool which includes the number one ranked team in the world, Ireland, as well as the fifth-ranked Scotland, who the Springboks face in their opening match in Marseille on September 10.
“Our pool matches are knockout games from the first game and you don’t want to go into a knockout game with players who haven’t played for a month.
“It is something we have to think of. We will have to get the balance right in the next four matches,” he said.
