Tickets for the tournament in England went on sale at 0900 GMT (10:00 a.m. BST) and despite fans having until Sept. 29 to apply, the official website failed to cope with a mad rush of applications.
"We are currently experiencing high levels of traffic and we will get you into the site as soon as we can," a message on the official ticketing site read.
Fans have been advised to try again at a later date as the tickets are being sold as part of an application process and not on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Demand for tickets in Britain is expected to be second only to the London 2012 Olympics and prices range from 15 pounds ($24 US dollar) for the lesser group games to 715 pounds for the most expensive seats at the final at Twickenham on Oct. 31.
The tournament begins on Sept. 18 next year when England play Fiji at Twickenham.
(Reporting By Michael Hann; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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