Eurosport - Wed, 01 Jul 12:03:00 2009
England and Japan look likely to host the next two rugby World Cups after organisers recommended the two countries to the International Rugby Board Council on Tuesday.
Rugby World Cup Ltd recommended England, who held the 1991 tournament, to host the 2015 event and Japan, who have never previously hosted it, for 2019 "achieving a balance between funding the global game and developing new rugby markets".
They also said they did not want matches to be shared with neighbouring countries as has been common in several previous tournaments.
"All the tenders were of a very high standard and each Union demonstrated that they could host an excellent rugby World Cup. It is a tribute to the health of the game and the enormous prestige of RWC that the field was so strong," RWCL chairman Bernard Lapasset said in a statement.
"Both Italy and South Africa submitted comprehensive tenders with very strong government support and would be capable of hosting outstanding rugby World Cup tournaments now or in the future.
"I would like to thank and congratulate them both for the quality of their tenders. However, there could only be two recommended Unions and after detailed review, the RWCL Board decided that England and Japan would provide the best balanced combination of hosts for the continued worldwide development of the game.
"The RWCL board believes that a rugby World Cup in Japan would provide a gateway to the further development and expansion of the game in Asia, reaching out to new young fans and providing a superb spectacle for the sport."
The Dublin-based IRB Council will announce the final decision on the hosts for both tournaments after a meeting on July 28.
The next World Cup, in 2011, will be held in New Zealand.
Comment 4 - 23 of 23
Hey mike, your quite evidently not a rugby fan and this is a rugby forum, so why dont you go back to whatever sport you enjoy, you dont see any pathetic comments from rugby fans on other forums so why dont you just pi ss off
donald shut it you nob
w.dutson
does England have enough A grade stadiums? More than most I think - New Olympic stadium, Wembley, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, City of Manchester Stadium, Emirates.... need I go on?
date rich men and celebrities, meet your classy half on _classymingle com_ the place make your dream come ture!
'Don't like the idea of one country one world cup, that means the Celtic countries will never host again.....'
Actually even if its just one country that hosts it, lets say Wales, then they will still use Twickenham, Murrayfield, Landsdowne and Stade de Francais during the group matches. This happened in 1991, when England was the sole host.
I agree, I think Argentina and Italy would be great places to host the games. Then maybe Portugal. All these countries have the infrastructure to host such a tournament. Plus once interest gets bigger in these countries, the team gets better and the level of competition gets enhanced, making rugby a more interesting game. I love the rugby world cup, but it is a little dull that the same old teams win it.
Bring through the minnows asap I say, look to the future!
As a South African I am glad we won't be hosting it soon. We really need to broaden our horizons, especially towards the East. Rugby can really get huge if we give it a chance. Saying that I think it would be great if every few RWCups it is hosted in England, the birthplace of rugby.
But Japan could possibly be the best host ever! Those people know how to support teams, they are amazing!
obviously mate, probably not true rugby players, supporters, coaches or whatever they make out they are
Unfortunately not Roger, even Guardian draws the idiots... I thought that Rugby was supported by gents, but some of the guys you get here and on other forums are as bad as football fans.
thought sites like this were for proper discussions not like some of the obvious idiots here
I agree... I am English, love rugby... but why is it that its always the established nations getting the nod above the nations coming through. Japan was stepped over when they chose NZ to host 2011, now it looks like England will get 2015. They should have given it to Japan for 2011, and started thinking about getting the teams coming through like Italy and Argentina a chance to host it. This way there is a greater chance of International Rugby Union of becoming a more developed game. At the moment there are 3-4 teams that can seriously have a chance of winning the world cup, most are southern hemisphere. But it is always the same 3-4 teams year in year out. How is this gonna change if the teams coming through don't get a chance to make rubgy a more popular sport in their countries?
rugbymad hope theyre not boys
rugbymad I pity your kids having a poof for a dad
you and gruff get it on like a big funy sex machine then i take it?
garyvenus you are after a 3some with the two sausage jockeys above too?
It's good it can be played in England in 2015 but does England have enough A grade stadiums it would be better to use the millenium stadium as well.
Don't like the idea of one country one world cup, that means the Celtic countries will never host again.....
Hmmm... Quoling, since when has japan been in the southeren hemisphere?
I'm actually married with two kids, mike. A typical idiotic ideology that all people from one sport are the same, really quite pathetic, how old are you?
shut the @£$& up mike you @£$&head, sorry gruff
shut up gruff you @%$&
mike sounds like you tried it and didnt like it, what public school did you go to ????
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