Four unions to join forces for World Cup bid

RUGBY NEWS:AT A MEETING in Dublin yesterday, it was expected that WRU chief executive Roger Lewis would outline his ideas on making a joint bid with the IRFU, Scotland, Wales and England for the 2015 or 2019 Rugby World Cup tournaments.

Although the Welsh Rugby Union had been considering a joint bid for the tournament with England, the preferred route now, due largely to cost, is to join forces with the Scottish, English and Irish Unions.

The four unions have already made individual requests to host the event.

"Up until this point there has been no high level discussions, although, the idea has been discussed within the IRFU and with other unions," said an IRFU spokesman yesterday.

"The preference for the IRFU would be that model, that is a joint bid by the four unions to host the Rugby World Cup, similar to the format of the 1991 World Cup."

The International Rugby Board's granting of a World Cup in 2015 comes with a sizeable price tag of £100 million (€123 million). The 2019 tournament is a further £20 million (€26 million) more expensive, which makes the economics of co-hosting the event the most preferable option.

The IRB confirmed last month that there had been a record number of requests to host the tournaments.

In total, eight countries - Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales - applied to host the 2015 showpiece, while all of those unions, except England, submitted an interest in hosting the 2019 tournament, with Jamaica and Russia adding their names.

In a wide-ranging interview with yesterday's Western Mail newspaper in Wales, WRU chief executive Lewis outlined some details of the proposals, which would see Ireland stage a pool stage and a quarter-final.

"Each country would host a pool and a quarter-final with England staging the semi-finals and final at Twickenham," explained Lewis.

"We have got to recognise that Twickenham is rugby's greatest cash generator. It holds over 80,000. There is serious finance involved in hosting the World Cup, so we must get it right.

"Therefore, in a celebration of British and Irish rugby, I believe it should be staged by the four home unions with matches in Wales, England, Ireland and Scotland.

"Spreading the bid across the four nations also means virtually all the matches would be played at established rugby grounds like the Millennium Stadium, Twickenham, Murrayfield and Lansdowne Road.

"If England were to be sole hosts or with us, it would inevitably mean more games being played at football grounds. I, personally, would prefer matches to take place at iconic rugby venues."

If the four powerful unions can come to an agreement on a joint proposal they must submit a detailed application and present their case to IRB Council by May 2009.

The host countries will be selected on July 28th, 2009.

Japan is expected to be the favourites to be host nation for the 2015 tournament after surprisingly losing out to New Zealand when bidding for 2011.

Having co-hosted the 2002 World Cup and lost out to the Kiwis, the Japanese federation has a significant start on the other applicants in terms of having an attractive package in place.

In 1991, Ireland hosted a number of Pool and knock-out phase matches and staged them in both Lansdowne Road and at Ravenhill Road. In the Pool 'A' Ireland played Zimbabwe and Japan in Lansdowne Road, while Zimbabwe faced Japan in Belfast. Ireland's pool game against Scotland, however, was played in Murrayfield.

Ireland also hosted a quarter-final match where they were narrowly beaten by a late Australian try from Michael Lynagh following Gordon Hamilton's famous score only minutes before the final whistle. New Zealand also played Australia in a Lansdowne Road semi-final.