Cup opener just the ticket

Rugby World Cup organisers have set their sights on selling out Eden Park for the opening match day of the tournament after announcing that ticket sales have already surpassed 30,000.

The Black Ferns will play Australia next Saturday at the 47,000-capacity venue as part of a triple-header to start the World Cup, and the size of the crowd will send records tumbling.

The crowd could double the current record for a match at a women’s Rugby World Cup – the 20,000 attendance for the 2014 final in France. It will also shatter the women’s sports match day record in New Zealand, which stands at 16,162 for a North Korea v USA under-17 football game in 2008.

Rugby World Cup tournament director Michelle Hooper said ticket sales represented a significant day for women’s rugby – and sport – in Aotearoa.

The Black Ferns v Australia game will kick off at 7.15pm on Saturday, and will be preceded by the South Africa v France and Fiji v England games.

However, concerns have been raised that New Zealand Rugby has missed a trick by only staging games Auckland and Whangārei. ‘‘Undoubtedly, there’s a missed opportunity,’’ Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith said last week.

That decision was made to satisfy World Rugby guidelines and a breakeven model for the tournament.

‘‘We were confident we could promote the sport effectively but also have a cost model and a tournament budget that was also a key consideration,’’ NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson said.