The South African Rugby Union's ticketing woes may count against the organisation when the International Rugby Board announces its host countries for the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.

According to Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag the fact that the recent British and Irish Lions tour was played in front of half empty stadiums and last week's unsold tickets for the Tri-Nations encounter between the Springboks and the All Blacks may negatively influence the country's bid.

SARU and its commercial arm, SA Rugby, launched an investigation last week into the slow sales of tickets for the Tri-Nations and the IRB may see this as a negative aspect when they vote to determine who should get hosting rights for 2015 and 2019.