Rugby World Cup organisers say they stand by their 2023 ticketing strategy despite the widespread frustrations experienced by many fans eager to purchase seats for the tournament in France. The official website crashed twice on the first day of pre-sales which saw 300,000 tickets sold inside 12 hours on Monday. At one stage 1,000 tickets per minute were being snapped up by fans desperate to watch their respective teams or base themselves in certain cities. The unprecedented demand led to the website crashing on two occasions but officials have claimed the “difficulties” were only brief and that the first-come, first-served system for registered ‘family’ members paying via Mastercard was fairer than a public ballot. “We stand by the decision to use this process,” said a tournament spokesperson. “We are conscious a number of these family members were not able to obtain tickets and we understand they are disappointed. The demand was such that the waiting time was long and people, by the time they got to the purchasing platform, may not have had the chance to buy the tickets they wanted. “For seven minutes we experienced certain difficulties. It was not the servers, it was more the number of people trying to buy the same product at the same time. But the process was what we believed to be the fairest. We believe a ballot or lottery is not as fair as rewarding the people who show their motivation to sign up in advance.” The next opportunity for those who missed out will be on Thursday when a further 300,000 tickets will be available to RWC ‘family’ members. A further 200,000 tickets will be available for public sale on Tuesday 6 April. World Rugby has also unveiled a plan to “supercharge” the women’s game from 2023 which will involve a new annual international competition called WXV, described by chairman Bill Beaumont as a “landmark moment.” The governing body is investing £6.4m into the tournament, which will see nations split into three tiers and be played in September and October in non-World Cup years. The top tier will feature six teams split into two pools, with the leading three sides in the Women’s Six Nations being joined by three from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. Initially there will be no promotion or relegation to and from the top tier. The new initiative follows the decision to postpone this year’s scheduled Women’s World Cup in New Zealand until 2022 because of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.