The WRU has defended its partnership with ticket resale platform Seat Unique after it emerged tickets for high-demand games were being sold for up to nine times their financial value.
The Welsh Rugby Ticket Exchange has a number of tickets available for the upcoming autumn internationals in Cardiff, as well as the two Six Nations clashes in the new year.
Tickets for the upcoming clash with England on February 25 have already sold out through primary sellers, but those hoping to get a seat can still snap one up through the resale portal - although they'll have to dig deep.
The cheapest tickets for the clash with Eddie Jones' men are listed at £250, way beyond their £90 value. There's also a £75 booking fee, adding further potential strain to the purse strings of eager fans.
They aren't the most expensive available, though, with a pair of pitchside tickets in block L8 listed for an astonishing £945 each. Those come with a booking fee of £283.50, taking the total cost of the pair well beyond the £2,000 mark. Those tickets, according to the website, carry a face value of £120.
Additionally, while still available through primary sellers, tickets for the Ireland game have also been made available for a huge mark-up. A pair of pitchside seats on the halfway line, with a face value of £110, are going for £900 each, with a booking fee of £270.
It's worth pointing out there are actually some tickets available on the platform that work out a little cheaper. For example, fans can snap up a seat in the upper tier of the south-east corner for the match with Ireland for £100 - £5 less than the original price.
Even so, the huge mark-ups are likely to leave a bitter taste for many supporters.
Figures seen by WalesOnline suggest the current average price for a 2023 Six Nations ticket on the platform is £225.
That's actually lower than average ticket price paid last year, which stood at £241.
However, some tickets have obviously been sold through the platform at costs far exceeding both figures.
It's understood that the highest value sales for Six Nations tickets this year, and last year, were listed by sellers from WRU clubs, meaning some are seemingly using the platform as a way of raising extra cash for the grassroots game.
A WRU spokesperson told WalesOnline: "We want the money from ticket sales to stay in Welsh rugby. An unregulated secondary market exists and always has done.
"By offering a regulated platform we are able to introduce a range of safeguards for clubs, ticketholders and consumers.
"The highest ticket prices don’t sell. Just because a high price is listed this doesn’t mean this is what is being paid.
"The WRU has a sponsorship agreement with Seat Unique and does not benefit commercially from any sales.
"There is a 10% fee to the seller and 15% to the buyer (this is industry standard). The booking fee is fully retained by Seat Unique.
"A message at point of purchase informs customers if tickets are available at lower prices elsewhere, including when tickets are still available at cost price from WRU. The only game we have currently announced as sold out is the England 6N game 2023.
"The spirit of the platform is that clubs (who have first refusal access to all available tickets) are permitted to resell 10% of their allocation above face value and so the monies generated from these are being re-invested into grassroots."
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