How to get Tickets to see the British & Irish Lions in South Africa

Article Published: Monday 30 March 2009

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We get asked several times a day how you can get tickets for the matches in South Africa. In our experience, and having tried many different avenues for previous tours, we can safely say that following our advice below is your best bet for sourcing tickets.

One of the most common questions we get asked is "How can I get tickets to the matches without buying the whole package?" Basically the short answer to that is you can't. A "package", however, does not have to mean an expensive fully escorted tour, it can be as simple as flights and guaranteed match tickets, or (newly available within the last week or so) even simpler pre-match hospitality and guaranteed match tickets. As you would expect, tickets for the Lions tests are in extremely short supply and the options open to you are therefore limited.

The only way you can guarantee your ticket to the test matches is by purchasing a package from one of the four official licenced operators appointed by British Lions Limited, including our travel partner Gullivers Sports Travel. For more information about Gullivers Sports Travel, please see our travel page.

In theory, there are other ways of getting hold of tickets for the tests, for example having family and friends resident in South Africa who may be able to get tickets through the ticket system in place for South African residents. This still represents a bit of a gamble as local supporters will be vying for those tickets and the majority of those tickets will be supplied by SARFU to the clubs in South Africa for distribution, so the chances of getting any tickets on general sale will be severely limited.

Alternatively, you could of course try going out to South Africa and buying tickets from the touts (scalpers) outside the stadiums. In all honesty, with the prices that they're likely to charge, even if you have a black belt in haggling you'd be highly likely to part with less money by paying for a package from one of the operators. I personally saw a guy hand over more than £700 to a tout for just one match ticket outside Stadium Australia in 2001 and I heard all sorts of horror stories about people being charged well over four figures per ticket in New Zealand in 2005, so it really isn't worth it!

Even if you manage to haggle successfully with a tout, you cannot guarantee your admission to the ground. Many tickets bought from touts will either be fake or void if official distributors have realised that they've fallen into the wrong hands. You could end up hundreds and hundreds of pounds lighter without even getting in to the ground!

Purchasing a package through an Official Licenced Operator is the best and most hassle free way of securing your tickets to the games. This way you will spend your valuable time in the Rainbow Nation enjoying the tour rather than worrying about your tickets.

Gullivers has just launched match ticket and Lions Big bar packages costing £250. Tickets are available for all three Test matches. See our travel page for details.