Test tickets are proving to be hot items in Dunedin this week, with up to 30 either missing or stolen, the Otago Rugby Football Union says.
Chris Green, marketing manager for the ORFU, said the union had reissued 20-30 tickets for the match between the All Blacks and South Africa at Carisbrook tomorrow after people approached it with stories of their tickets not arriving.
The tickets were for the main and railway stands.
The ORFU had sent the tickets out by courier.
Green declined to say which company it used.
"We're pretty sure they have been stolen from letter boxes or from front doors," he said.
The ORFU planned to meet police yesterday afternoon to discuss security at the sold-out test and would raise the issue of the missing tickets.
Green's main concern was those tickets may have been sold to unsuspecting rugby fans.
The last thing he wanted to see was innocent people arriving at Carisbrook only to be turned away because the tickets they purchased were stolen and no longer valid.
"What we want to do is get the message out there that if you've got tickets, and you are not sure of their origin, then come into the office [at Carisbrook] and we can check them out.
"Or if you know you've got them illegally, then we've got some pretty strict processes in place at the gate."
Green said all the seated tickets have individual bar codes, and if they have been reissued, then the old ticket will have been cancelled.
Earlier in the week, terrace tickets were selling for up to $100 on an Internet auction site.
Green warned the ORFU, where possible, would pursue legal avenues to prevent people scalping tickets.
He also urged people to get to Carisbrook early to avoid long queues.
