Rugby-'No dramas' for Super fans queuing overnight for tickets

By Greg Stutchbury WELLINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) - Super Rugby fever hit New Zealand's capital on Wednesday with hundreds of fans camping out overnight for 2,000 tickets for Saturday's final between the Wellington Hurricanes and Otago Highlanders. Tickets for the final technically sold out in 59 seconds on Monday, though the Hurricanes made another 5,000 available on Wednesday after corporates and clubs had returned their unsold allocations. Stadium officials were also installing temporary seating to boost the normal 34,500 capacity. After the 2,000 tickets available for the people in the queue, the last 3,000 were to be sold online later on Wednesday. "No dramas mate. It has been pretty good," Wellington barber Danny Meadows, who had arrived at 1700 (0500 GMT) on Tuesday and was first in the queue, told Reuters about 90 minutes before the tickets went on sale at 0800. "We had a few visits from the boys (Hurricanes players). They brought us down some pizzas and hot chocolate." Meadows had attempted to buy tickets online on Monday and had three devices all trying to connect to the ticketing portal but was unable to purchase any. He had been to 'most' of the team's home games this year, though he often sourced tickets through Hurricanes players whose hair he cut. DREAM FINAL Despite a cold spell in Wellington over the past two weeks, temperatures were relatively mild overnight at about 8 Celsius for those in a queue that stretched several hundred metres around Te Papa, New Zealand's National Museum. Hamish Orbell, who had arrived at about 0700 and said he "liked sleep too much" to camp out overnight, had queued in the hope he would get tickets for his dream final. "I'm from Dunedin but the Hurricanes are my second team so I guess this is my dream final," he said. "Except for the fact it's not in Dunedin." Hurricanes chief executive James Te Puni came down to see the queue, while hooker Dane Coles, lock Jeremy Thrush and winger Nehe Milner-Skuder also turned up. "It's great for rugby in the capital. It's a big boost for interest in the game," a smiling Te Puni told Reuters. Local media said Wellington Rugby Union could expect a seven-figure profit from having two successive full houses after the semi-final against the ACT Brumbies was also sold out. Hurricanes' success and style had brought crowds back to the grounds, with attendances up 25 percent on last year, he added. Interest in season tickets and memberships for next year were also likely to "double or triple", he said. "We could have sold two or three times the number of seats," he added of the demand. "I think we have to recognise this is a unique set of circumstances." (Editing by Ken Ferris)