Stormers fans in search of tickets for Saturday’s Super 14 semifinal showdown with the Waratahs were left fuming on Tuesday morning after the Computicket system crashed.

Irate fans called into radio stations and posted messages on social networking site Twitter, complaining that they had been unable to buy tickets for the Stormers’ crunch match against the ‘Tahs at Newlands Stadium.

Eyewitness News reported that dozens of fans had been unable to secure tickets after standing in queues for several hours.

One fan, who had been queuing at Cape Town’s Artscape Theatre, said, “We’ve been in the queue for one and a half hours. One or two folks have been fortunate enough when the system came back up but when that sale is concluded it crashes and goes back down again.”

There were also numerous posts on Twitter from angry supporters who had tried to book tickets using the website, which also appeared to have buckled under the deluge of ticket requests.

“Thank you @computicket for stuffing up ticketing again. Not everyone can be at stadium to buy tickets. How can u not be prepared for this?” commented one person.

“Not much coming from @computicket today on their website crashing … Same thing happened last year with Currie Cup semi-final,” said another.