SA Rugby defends Test ticket prices: 'It costs enormous amount of money to run Springboks'

John Maytham (standing in for Cape Talk's Lester Kiewit) chats to Andy Colquhoun, General Manager of Corporate Affairs at the South African Rugby Union (SARU).

Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below:

"It's not generally freely and easily accessible anyway, regardless of price."

- Andy Colquhoun, South African Rugby Union

South African rugby fans are furious about the high ticket prices for the Springboks' Test match against Australia on Saturday (23 August) in Cape Town.

The Test is now under the control of SA Rugby, which opted not to honour season ticket perks previously offered by Western Province Rugby.

Fans argue that even the cheapest seats, starting from R525, were few and far between, and often offered poor views.

ALSO READ: JOHN MAYTHAM: R4k to see Springboks vs Australia? 'Never gonna pay that!'

Colquhoun defends the pricing, citing the high cost of running the national team with no financial support from the government. 

"It's a simple thing; it costs an enormous amount of money to run a Springbok team."  

- Andy Colquhoun, South African Rugby Union

"We spend half a billion rand a year on our national teams, R270-million funding the Springboks, another R220-million supporting our juniors, women's and our sevens team. We don't get anything from the government. We don't have shareholders who pay to fund our activities, so it is simple economics."  

- Andy Colquhoun, South African Rugby Union

Colquhoun acknowledges public discontent and admits that the union may have misjudged the market, saying they will review the ticket category distribution for future matches to increase accessibility.

"We are doing everything we can to support making the game accessible and more affordable to everybody, but the simple fact is that everything in South Africa is more expensive these days. I am afraid we are not immune to the pressures of inflation and costs."

- Andy Colquhoun, South African Rugby Union

Despite SA Rugby noting that this year’s prices are lower than last year’s New Zealand test, concerns remain that the corporatisation of the sport is excluding passionate fans.

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.