Allocations cut as RFU get tough over touts

The Rugby Football Union's crackdown on international match tickets being sold to unauthorised markets has led to 15 clubs, one school and five individuals having their allocation cut for future matches at Twickenham.

The lucrative unofficial hospitality market is worth an estimated £1million per match and the RFU brought in new regulations last season in an attempt to control the number of tickets reaching the black market.

They also licensed four official operators to allow clubs to make money by selling their allocations at above face value. Twickenham officials supported these moves by targeting unofficial operations and tracking the tickets handed out to clients.

As a result, England players Ben Cohen, Olly Barkley and Matt Stevens were forced to explain how their tickets found their way to the black market.

The RFU have now released more details of their purge and Paul Vaughan, the commercial director, said: "We made it very clear earlier this year we would take action against those parties who contravened the terms and conditions under which the match tickets were sold.

"A total of 15 member clubs, one school and five individuals have been informed of the reduction and their right of appeal to our disciplinary officer, Jeff Blackett. An appeal must be made within 28 days.

"It became clear that we were not dealing with one or two isolated cases and, therefore, we have decided to wait for what we feel is the optimum amount of time before making the announcement.

"We now feel we have all the evidence we need relating to the large number of cases involved."