Four countries bid for 2015 World Cup

[travelling_gerry]

May 9, 2009 - 7:22AM


England, Italy, Japan and South Africa have submitted bids to stage the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with all but England going for the 2019 event as an alternative.
Australia declined to bid, deciding the International Rugby Board was asking too much money.

Four candidates is a record for the tournament, which was first played in New Zealand in 1987 and returns in 2011.

"We are delighted to have countries of the caliber of England, Italy, Japan and South Africa bidding for the right to host a Rugby World Cup," IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset said.

"The unprecedented response reflects the growing global prestige of a tournament that is established as the world's third-largest sporting event."
The four candidates will now outline their bids in presentations to the IRB Council in Dublin on May 13.

That will lead to detailed analysis of the tenders, including independent financial and commercial evaluation, before the IRB announces the hosts for the 2015 and 2019 events on July 28.

AP

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...727638356.html

[slomo]

japan it is then.......but we spent sometime in italy prior to RWC07 in france, they have the stadias available, do the IRB want to take the tournament back to europe?

[prop53]

If they can afford it good on them but would be good to see Japan win the bid

[James]

I'd love to see Japan get it for the growth of the game but England getting it is a dead cert. With little or no gains to be made from NZ's cup they will give it to the country that poses the best possible financial gain and that would be England. Rugby bosses will want a tournament where the hosts are both in the European time zone and likely to get into the finals. On top of that since the cup went south in 2011 it will go north in 2015.

Start making English friends. I figure the pools would be London, west England (Bath, Gloucester, Bristol area), northern England (Manchester/Liverpool and maybe Newcastle) and the Midlands (Leicester/Northampton and maybe Birmingham). God I love speculation.

[travelling_gerry]

Japan will get 2019 on an Aussie and NZ vote.

[Weebie]

England only have one suitable venue you need 3 or more large venues.

A tournament with qfs semis and final all in London will be shit Bring on italy

[mudskipper]

Japan will get 2019 on an Aussie and NZ vote.

Sounds good... they'll be playing in the new S15 model then...

[James]

England only have one suitable venue you need 3 or more large venues.

A tournament with qfs semis and final all in London will be shit Bring on italy

England have lots of great little venues for the minor pool matches and the cities I've mentioned all have football stadiums nearby that can house 50k+ people.

[AndyS]

England only bidding 2015 is a fairly clear ultimatum.

I thought the Japanese might have taken the same approach, still feeling robbed over 2011. It would have certainly put the IRB in an interesting position if they hadn't bid 2019, or withdrew the bid.

[Weebie]

I really hope Japan get it!!! If not the game will never go Global.

Also Football stadiums will be used in England. even for France 2007 the world cup was still lacking in Media interest compared to football in France and England!