There has been a glut of reports concerning outbreaks of Rugby Union World Cup fever – and the problem is getting frighteningly worse!
The first signs of the ailment were spotted in the Twickenham area of south west London on Friday, September 18.
Now, just 13 days later, this virulent fever has spread all over the country – there have even been isolated cases in Cardiff – and there are scare stories that it is inducing madness in some of the population.
The symptoms have already been worrying with reports coming from Leeds last weekend that Elland Road was sold out and that tickets for a rugby union match between Italy and Canada were being sold for £50 and upwards – shocking news from what is ostensibly a rugby league worshiping city.
However, this is nothing compared to tales emerging that this weekend is to see the disease reach even greater levels.
It is emerging from Twickenham, which is evidently the incubation centre for this epidemic, that some rugby union fans could find themselves paying over £14,000 a ticket if they want to get to England’s sold-out must-win game against Australia on Saturday.
Apparently four tickets are on offer for the match, going for a total of £56,640, on the popular ticket resale site StubHub.
The Category A seats at Twickenham have an original face value of £315 each according to the listing, meaning that they have a markup of £13,845 each.
It is unclear whether any World Cup fever sufferers have sought to alleviate their pain with such an expensive panacea.
However, many are believed to be prepared to try and stop the suffering at a cost of £1,397 – the average price on StubHub for a ticket for England’s meeting with the Wallabies game at the time of writing.
The prognosis for World Cup fever sufferers is not good and it is believed that by the end of October the situation could be beyond the bounds of most sports followers imaginations.
Already experts are warning that Twickenham could again prove the focus for the fever on Saturday, October 31, when it is believed the most expensive sell-on tickets for the sold-out final could cost anything between £1,180, for the cheapest seat, to a staggering £92,040,
Fortunately there are many who have not been afflicted, beating the fever by sticking to watching the World Cup on the telly.
It almost seems like a waste of time reporting that a footballer born in England has chosen to play for England – but apparently it is really big news.
The decision made by Solihull-born Jack Grealish has prompted some interesting reactions.
The 20-year-old has played for the Republic of Ireland through the junior age groups to Under-21 level, but turned down a call-up to the senior squad for a friendly against England in June.
The Aston Villa midfielder’s statement of intent to try and win an England senior cap you would have thought might have been applauded, but not in some quarter – a number of media reports have suggested that Grealish has only done it for the money.
It is an interesting accusation as it assumes that, firstly, Grealish is bound to be selected for England and, secondly, that there are greater rewards to be had under the guidance of Roy Hodgson than can be accrued from playing in the green shirt of Ireland.
Now in terms of gaining endorsement deals the latter may be true, but you have to feel that Grealish’s elevation to playing at senior international level might have been easier and produced a more prolonged relationship had he opted for Ireland.
Grealish qualifies for Ireland through his grandparents, which back in Jack Charlton’s day would have been more than enough.
Tony Cascarino, capped 88 times, himself admitted he didn’t think he qualified, though the FAI insisted he did.
You would have thought the positioning of the ‘O’ in his surname would have been the dead giveaway (he obviously should have played for Italy).
Strangely I don’t remember anyone at the time questioning Cascarino’s loyalty as he bagged 19 goals for his ‘adopted’ nation.
Grealish, in contrast, is having his motives questioned and his loyalty to the cause.
Personally I hope he does well enough to get his England chance and goes on to prove that even people who were born in somewhere like Birmingham actually care about playing for England.
