The great ticket scrum: England's heroes spark rugby fever

Tickets for England's clash with South Africa were changing hands for between £1,000 and £4,000 each - up to 13 times their face value.

With rugby fever sweeping the nation, one confident eBay seller put up his pair of tickets with an astonishing reserve price of £9,999. So far last night there had been no takers.

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Disappointed French, Australian and New Zealand fans, who had expected to see their team in the final, are among those selling tickets.

They come in four official price categories - £75, £225, £250 and £500. Some are being hawked in the cafes and bars of Paris but the main trade is on the internet.

On eBay, some desperate fans were snapping up seats for as much as £4,000 each rather than risk missing out. Eric Baker, who runs the viagogo ticket website, said: "This is one of the hottest events in sporting history.

"The way that England made it to the final after being written off for dead when they were thrashed 36-0 by South Africa in the first game has captured everyone's imagination.

"And the fact that it's in Paris means that people can just hop on the Eurostar to get there. Only a football World Cup final or the reunion of the Beatles would be more sought after."

Rooms still available for Saturday night in the centre of Paris yesterday were being advertised at between four and ten times their usual rates.

The cheapest room at the fourstar Les Jardins Du Marais was £435. Many fans will be forced to secure rooms in one of the small satellite towns around the capital, where bargains could still be found yesterday.

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Among those fortunate enough to be inside the Stade de France for the England-France clash was Prince Harry, who yesterday personally congratulated the England team on their 14-9 victory.

Harry wore an England shirt for Saturday night's game and shouted with joy and raised both arms to the sky as Wilkinson and his team overcame France to book a place in their second successive final.

The prince spent the night in the team hotel and yesterday met the players as they enjoyed a day off.

He chatted with Wilkinson for several minutes, asking him to talk him through the match-winning points he scored in the dying minutes of the clash.

One guest said: "He congratulated Jonny and wished him the best of luck for the final. He looked delighted to get to speak to him in person and say 'well done' for such a phenomenal performance."

Harry is expected to attend the final, as will Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister will be there as a guest of the Rugby Football Union. French president Nicolas Sarkozy had invited him to Saturday's semifinalbut he was unable to attend because of meetings at Chequers.

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Mr Brown, a Scot, said: "I want to congratulate Brian Ashton, Phil Vickery and the whole England rugby team on their fantastic achievement.

"This is a proud day for the country and I wish the team the best of luck for the final."

An estimated British TV audience of 12 million saw the match - a record for a sporting event this year. Some 40,000 England fans descended on Paris for the semi final, with many ticketless supporters forced to watch the match on a big screen set up in the Champ de Mars, near the Eiffel Tower.

Waving St George's crosses and with faces painted red and white, they outcheered French supporters in the square throughout the match.

Sir Peter Westmacott, the British Ambassador to France, said the travelling fans had been high-spirited but had behaved impeccably.

Daily Mail comment

When this World Cup began, the England team were written off as no-hopers. They were too old. They were burnt out. They might not even reach the knock-out stages.

How hollow those sneers now sound, with Jonny Wilkinson and his team mates just 80 minutes away from achieving what no other rugby nation has - retaining the World Cup.

They have got there through sheer effort of will, grit and bloody-mindedness.

In an age when sport is bedevilled by cynicism, their do-or-die spirit and pride in their country has been as refreshing as it has been inspirational.

Now let's pray they can do it one more time.

• Many supporters are managing to pick up bargains on the French version of the internet auction website eBay, as disappointed France fans off-load their tickets following their team's exit from the World Cup.

At the same time as a pair of tickets were sold for £3,200 on the British version of the site, a similar pair sold for just £1,522 on the French version.

All 80,000 seats in the Stade de France stadium have been sold out for many weeks, but last minute Ebay auctions are giving supporters a chance to see the game.

While some tickets are listed by professional touts, many belong to Australian, New Zealand and French fans who originally bought their tickets in anticipation of their team being in the final.