The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is selling Wales v Australia match tickets to students for just £10 ahead of this autumn's Nations Championship, as the governing body hopes to avoid large numbers of empty seats at the fixture.
The union has been increasing efforts to shift tickets for matches against Japan, New Zealand and the Wallabies next month, with tens of thousands still available on the WRU's official ticketing site.
This has led to the announcement of a limited-time student flash sale for Wales' final home match of the autumn against the Australians.
Late kick-off for Australia Test
The Wallabies visit the Principality Stadium on November 21, with the match taking place at the unusually late kick-off time of 8.10pm.
That marks the latest Saturday kick-off for a Wales international at the stadium by some margin. While Wales have kicked off at similar times on Friday nights, the previous latest kick-off time on a Saturday was 5.40pm.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the later kick-off, there are more tickets left for the Australia Test than the other two. At the start of this week, there were over 44,000 tickets available on the WRU's site - over half the stadium's capacity.
Student flash sale details
As such, the WRU has announced students can buy any seat in the upper tier for just £10 this week. Student tickets for the match had originally started at £31.
Aside from the student offer, the cheapest tickets in the upper tiers for other fans are between £28 and £50. Top-priced tickets for the match are £78.
Australia has tended to be a strange fixture for the WRU to sell in previous years, in part due to the relative frequency the two sides have played each other. Wales have played the Wallabies on 16 occasions at the Principality Stadium since 2001 - not including World Cup matches at the stadium in 1999 and 2007.
Across those 16 meetings with the Wallabies, the attendance has fluctuated somewhat. After four straight matches between 2005 and 2009 with an attendance over 74,000, the fixture has managed to pull in a crowd of over 70,000 on just one more occasion since.
Playing each other every year between 2008 and 2014 likely didn't help, with six of the 16 matches having a crowd in the 50,000s. One of those was the last, when 56,188 watched the Wallabies hammer Warren Gatland's Wales in 2024.
Japan and New Zealand ticket sales
For Wales' other November matches, around 36,000 tickets were available to buy on the site for their opener against Japan. It was just shy of 32,000 for the All Blacks clash, which has traditionally been a sellout in previous years.
Last year's clash was just the second time the visit of New Zealand has failed to pull in more than 70,000 supporters to the ground. After 68,785 attended the first meeting between Wales and the All Blacks at the stadium in 2002, the two nations played 11 times from 2004 to 2022 - with an average crowd of 73,800.
Last year's match was the lowest crowd to date, with the attendance being 68,388. Japan meanwhile has traditionally been a lower crowd, with the tickets priced accordingly. The Brave Blossoms' visit last year brought in 61,324.
WRU statement
A WRU spokesperson said: "With an 8.10pm kick-off Wales' 2026 Nation's Championship clash with Australia at Principality Stadium on Saturday 21st November will be themed very much as an evening of celebration, with a party atmosphere which should appeal directly to a student crowd as well as anyone looking for a great night out in Cardiff."
"The Stickmen have already been announced as our halftime entertainment for this event and the closed roof and stadium light show will appeal to supporters wanting to watch these two historic rivals take centre stage."
"With this in mind the one week flash sale of student tickets at £10 each is designed to encourage this group to make their plans early and not miss-out. The flash sale lasts all week and has already been a huge success, more than trebling our run-rate on ticket sales to see the Wallabies."
"We are working hard on marketing each of our three November fixtures in different ways with the opening game of the series against Japan on 7th November kicking off at a family friendly time of 4.40pm and a carnival atmosphere expected as our opponents celebrate their 100 year anniversary."
"The All Blacks match is a showcase fixture celebrating the heritage and rivalry shared between the two world nations who hold rugby dearest to their hearts, a game known for the best rugby can offer from hakas and anthems to try fests and last minute winners."
"Overall ticket sales rates for Wales internationals continue to be encouraging with large sections of the stadium already sold-out for 2027 Six Nations matches and Wales women attracting significant attention for their home clash with England at Principality Stadium, but it remains important in the short term for us to maximise attendance at the All Blacks, the Wallabies and Japan games."
"We do not take existing support for granted and will continue to market our games to different audiences throughout Wales, as it is hugely important to Welsh rugby that our flagship matches draw the biggest crowds possible, with all proceeds fed back into the whole game in Wales."
Earlier this year saw Wales record their lowest-ever Six Nations crowd, when only 57,744 turned up to watch the defeat to France.
