Rugby: England and Japan to host World Cups

IRB council member Martyn Thomas (L) congratulates Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Noboru Mashimo after Japan was announced host of the 2019 World Cup. Photo / AP

DUBLIN - England will host the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and Japan will run the tournament in 2019, the International Rugby Board announced this morning (NZT).

Approval from the board's ruling council was widely expected after Rugby World Cup Ltd. - the IRB-controlled company that oversees each tournament - last month endorsed England and Japan as the strongest bidders.

Board chairman Bernard Lapasset said 16 of the 26 IRB council members voted in favour of the English and Japanese bids during afternoon deliberations at a Dublin conference centre. Others backed rival finalists South Africa and Italy, which both placed bids to host either in 2015 or 2019.

England last helped stage a Rugby World Cup in 1991, while Japan will play host for the first time. Four years ago, Japan was the front-runner to host the 2011 World Cup but lost unexpectedly to New Zealand.

"The God of rugby smiled on us today," said Japan Rugby Football Union president Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister.

His nation's bid emphasised the potential to win millions of new rugby fans in Japan, South Korea, Singapore - and China.

"Our goal 'The globalization of rugby' is getting closer to reality," Mori said.

However, IRB officials stressed that today's vote authorised Japan and England to stage matches only on their own soil. England's plans to include Millennium Stadiun in neighbouring Wales, and Japan's proposals to hold 2019 matches in Hong Kong and Singapore, would require separate submissions and votes.

Mike Miller, managing director of Rugby World Cup Ltd., said he expected approval for extending each World Cup into other countries "if it could enhance the showcase, enhance the finances and lead to a better tournament."

England Rugby Union chairman Martyn Thomas called England's 2015 win "a relief, and also great joy for England."

Thomas said 2007 host France had set new standards for facilities, crowd control, ticket sales and fan enjoyment.

"France raised the bar. We've now got to raise the bar again," he said.

Lapasset said England triumphed in part because its rugby union could offer particularly strong financial guarantees and impressive existing stadiums, crucial during a time of global recession.

He said Japan represented a great platform to promote rugby in Asia and keep expanding the audience and financial clout of a tournament first staged only 22 years ago.

England's winning bid proposes using Wembley, Manchester United's Old Trafford, Liverpool's Anfield and Arsenal's Emirates Stadium as venues, while Twickenham would host the final. The England Rugby Union projects it could sell 3 million tickets - 50 per cent more than the existing record set by France in 2007.