- 2015 Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
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preceded by =2011 Rugby World Cup
succeeded by =2019 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup will be the 8th edition of the tournament. The host is expected to be announced on
July 28 2009 , along with the host of the2019 Rugby World Cup . By 2015, Africa will have last held the tournament in 1995 (South Africa), Europe will have last hosted it in 2007 (France), and Oceania last in 2011 (New Zealand). The tournament has never been held in Asia or the Americas.ubmission of Interest
The
IRB requested that any member unions wishing to host this tournament or the2019 Rugby World Cup should indicate their interest by15 August 2008 . This would be purely to indicate interest. No details had to be provided at this stage.A record ten unions indicated interest in hosting the 2015 and/or the 2019 events. The 2015 tournament received interest from Nine different nations.
Bid Details
Japan
Japan is seen as the favouriteFact|date=May 2008 to host the 2015 tournament after finishing runner-up in the bidding for the 2011 event. Japan is seen as having a lot to offer in terms of growth in the key Asian market, and their experience in co-hosting the incredibly successful 2002 FIFA World Cup is seen as a boost. Also attractive to the IRB is that rugby in Japan has a developing following and player numbers larger than some of the Six Nations. In fact, it has 126,000 registered players and this, in addition to its population of 127 million, its vast economy and its ability to place rugby before a new Asian audience are what have made it the front-runner for hosting rights. The Top League is an increasingly exciting showcase for Japanese rugby and there is incredible excitement in Japan about Japan's entry into RWC 2015. Finally, Japan is a developed nation with a sophisticated tourism sector, with sporting facilities and infrastructure already in place and ready for use in the tournament.
The Japanese Rugby Union have already announced their plans to bid for the tournament. [http://www.rugbyjapan.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=27]
outh Africa
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) have confirmed that they are considering a bid. [http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iA2uPUqRGOe7984JJDJOe_g4jjXA] . They had launched an unsuccessful bid for 2011. The strengths of a South African bid would be that it is in the same time zone as Europe the wealthiest television market, that they are the current World Cup holders, that they previously hosted the tournament with great success and that they are currently in the process of building a whole series of new stadiums for the
2010 FIFA World Cup .England
In September 2007 the Guardian reported that the RFU had decided to submit a bid. It was also claimed that it very strong chance of success because the IRB now believes that the 2011 tournament might make a loss, therefore making it particularly important to ensure a profit, which is considered a strong point of England hosting. [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyworldcup2007/story/0,,2160211,00.html] The World Cup could form part of a 'Golden Decade' in British Sport.
Italy
Former Italy fly half,
Diego Dominguez , has stated his desire to campaign on behalf of an Italian bid for 2015. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/09/02/srbate102.xml] An Italian bid to host theRugby World Cup in either 2015 or 2019 was confirmed on20 July 2008 , withFederazione Italiana Rugby presidentGiancarlo Dondi saying, "It's a new cornerstone in the development of Italian rugby of which the whole movement should be proud."Scotland
A potential
Scotland bid for the 2015 event has previously received support by politicians and the strong support of EventScotland, who point out that the 2003 RWC brought Australia an estimated £311 million in wider economic benefits through tourism and trade. The nation is seen as a safer option following the successful 2004 Under 21 World Championships with senior figures at the IRB saying they were "very pleased" with Scotland’s hosting of the junior competition, which was billed by some as a springboard for larger sporting events. The success has helped to repair some measure of the enormous damage done five years before, when Scotland’s hosting of some of the RWC games ended in farce with thousands of unsold seats and half-empty stadia. [http://sport.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=547&id=769882004] . Scotland also hosted the1994 Women's Rugby World Cup at short notice, after the tournament in the Netherlands was cancelled. Very little has been heard of a Scottish bid since the announcement of their interest.ources
External links
* [http://www.irb.com/ The IRB official site]
* [http://www.worldcupweb.com/WCrugby/ RWC News site]
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