All Blacks v Italy test in Wellington still has thousands of unsold tickets as capital remains the toughest market

Friday, 19 June 2026

New Zealand Rugby will need a late surge of demand to sell out the All Blacks-Italy test in Wellington on July 11, with thousands of tickets yet to be snapped up.

While the All Blacks-France test in Christchurch on July 4 is already sold out and All Blacks versus Ireland at Eden Park on July 18 close to doing likewise, the test in Wellington is proving a tougher sell.

A NZ Rugby spokeswoman told The Post that about 10% of tickets were still available at the 34,500 capacity Hnry Stadium, which sold out in under 15 minutes for Saturday’s Super Rugby Pacific final between the Hurricanes and Chiefs.

But senior All Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes, who was previously part of the Italy set-up, warned the New Zealand public not to underestimate the Six Nations side, telling The Post: “People underestimate Italy because they see them as the Italy of old, not what they’ve evolved into.”

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“Kieran Crowley was involved with putting that team together four or five years ago and they’re still together, so they have great cohesion, a great game plan, and great skill sets.

“People need to look at their results in the last Six Nations to see how good they really are; they knocked over Scotland and England.

“They are incredibly tough but skilful men. They have my utmost respect.”

All Blacks tickets are priced between $53 and $183, with a one-off service fee of $6.95 per transaction.

By way of comparison, Hurricanes chief executive Tony Philp told The Post that a family of five could attend the Super Rugby Pacific final for $150.

“The top ticket price is $99 which we feel is really competitive because we want the stadium filled to the brim,” he said before it sold out on Tuesday morning.

The All Blacks v Argentina test in Wellington in August 2024 also failed to sell out, although there was a Bledisloe test in the capital just one month later. The stadium’s annual report says a crowd of 24,921 attended that Argentina test, with 31,001 for the Wallabies.

The All Blacks-Italy game will be the only test in Wellington this year, but NZ Rugby appears to be battling against the city’s well-documented economic challenges.

Wellington Beds managing director Patrice Green also warned in The Post that the city was “becoming trapped in a cycle of talking itself down, feeding a narrative that risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy”.

Of course, Italy aren’t big drawcards like Ireland, but the unsold seats suggest that they have been under-rated by New Zealanders.

Players such as midfielder Tommaso Menoncello, who has signed for French giants Toulouse, are regarded as being among the best in Europe.

New All Blacks coach Dave Rennie certainly won’t need to be reminded about the Italians’ ability.

As Wallabies coach, Rennie’s loss to Italy in Florence in 2022 was used against him by Rugby Australia when they decided to sack him and replace him with Eddie Jones.

Italy beat the Wallabies again last November, securing a 26-19 win against Joe Schmidt’s side.