There's just 100 days to go until the Rugby World Cup kicks off on New Zealand soil and organisers are celebrating with tickets now on sale for the pinnacle event.
At an event in Auckland tournament director Michelle Hooper, Black Ferns veteran Kendra Cocksedge and others marked the event milestone where they admitted it was hard to keep a lid on their excitement.
Hooper conceded spreading that excitement to the New Zealand public will be a tougher challenge.
"It's a really new space here in New Zealand to be selling tickets to women's rugby - we've only actually sold them to four different match days [in the past] which is crazy and many people wouldn't expect that," Hooper told 1News.
"We've sold 10% already which is encouraging but obviously we've got really great ambitions for this Rugby World Cup."
Hooper said from Thursday, fans wanting to head along to the tournament - which is being played out in Auckland and Whangārei - can go online and buy individual tickets for individual matches, including corporate options.
"It's five dollars for a child's ticket and from as little as $10 for an adult's ticket, so it's really affordable and accessible," she said.
One goal organisers have is selling out Eden Park for the opening day of the competition when, as part of a triple-header of games, the Black Ferns take on Australia.
Cocksedge said the potential for that being 100 days away is something to look forward to.
"A sell out crowd at Eden Park would be awesome," the halfback told 1News.
"We've played in front of massive crowds in England and France in the last year so to be able to do that on home turf would be really special."
Cocksedge admitted a driving force behind the Black Ferns' recent success at the Pacific Four Series, where they went undefeated against Australia, USA and Canada under new coach Wayne Smith, was trying to win back fans after a difficult end-of-season tour last year.
"That's just the reality, right?" she said.
"We came off the end-of-year tour and people probably weren't backing us so we had to put a stake in the ground, not just for the public but for the other teams around the world ahead of the World Cup."
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