Rugby World Cup hosts

The host nation for the Rugby World Cup is decided by the International Rugby Board (IRB) at a special meeting six years in advance of the tournament. The choice of host nation is a highly anticipated event. The original idea of hosting a Rugby World Cup was brought up by Australia when they floated the idea of hosting such an event for the centenary celebrations of rugby union in Australia.

To date the Rugby World Cup has been hosted by three southern hemisphere nations (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), in Oceania and Africa, and three northern hemisphere nations (United Kingdom, France and Ireland), all in Europe. The first non Tri Nations or Five Nations country to host a Rugby World Cup will be Japan in 2019, after failed bids for the 2011 (awarded to New Zealand) and 2015 (awarded to England) competitions. Neither Asia nor America have hosted the tournament yet.

Host nations

1987: New Zealand and Australia

The first Rugby World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand after the Australian Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Union each independently wrote to the International Rugby Board seeking to conduct a World Cup tournament. The final was played in Auckland, New Zealand at Eden Park and won by New Zealand.

1991: England/Wales/Scotland/Ireland/France

The 1991 Rugby World Cup final was played in England, while pool and finals games were played all over European nations. Pool A, which England was in, saw matches played mostly in London, though games were also taken to Leicester, Gloucester and Otley. Pool B games, which involved European nations, Scotland and Ireland, had all their games in either Dublin or Edinburgh with one game being played in Ulster. Pool C, which Wales was a part of, had all their games in Cardiff, with two taken to Pontypridd and one played in Llanelli. Pool D, which France were a part of, saw games played in Agen, Bayonne, Béziers and Grenoble. None of the quarter-finals or semi-finals were played in England. The final was played at the Rugby Football Union's Twickenham.

1995: South Africa

The 1995 World Cup was hosted and won by South Africa. The IRB broke new ground by awarding the tournament to an African nation, making it the first major sporting event ever held on the continent. This was also the first World Cup to be played entirely in one country.

The tournament will probably be most remembered for two moments—the emergence of Jonah Lomu as a rugby superstar, and the trophy presentation. In one of the most emotional moments in sports history, President Nelson Mandela wore a Springbok jersey and matching baseball cap when presenting the trophy to the team's Afrikaner captain Francois Pienaar. Mandela's jersey had Pienaar's number 6 on the back. The presentation was widely seen as a sign of reconciliation between South Africa's black and white communities.

1999: Wales

The 1999 World Cup was hosted by Wales with some matches spread across Scotland, England, Ireland and France. The format of the pool games was similar to the 1991 World Cup in England. All Pool A games were held in Scotland, Pool B games in England, Pool C games in France, Pool D games were all held in Wales and Pool 5 games were all held in Ireland. Second round play-offs and the quarter-finals were held a variety of European venues, the semi-finals were held at Twickenham Stadium, London. The third place play-off and the final were held at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

2003:Australia

The 2003 Cup was intended to be held jointly by Australia and New Zealand, but disagreements between the International Rugby Board and the NZRU, over sponsorship, advertising and ticketing, saw the competition played solely in Australia. Interestingly this was the first tournament to be won by a team from the northern hemisphere. The 2003 World Cup saw matches played in eleven stadia in ten Australian cities.

2011: New Zealand

See also: 2011 Rugby World Cup#Bids

The 2011 World Cup started in New Zealand in September 2011. Along with New Zealand, Japan and South Africa had made bids for the tournament. New Zealand won the vote 13 to 8. Some bookmakers initially made Japan the favourite to win the vote, although closer to the decision date the vote was deemed to be too close to call. The early bookmaker reasoning was that it was believed there was a desire to take the Rugby World Cup to a non-traditional rugby nation, and host the event in Asia for the first time. There were also concerns about New Zealand's infrastructure, however an IRB fact finding mission impressed the executives. Despite not winning the right to host the 2011 World Cup, Japan Rugby officials remained optimistic about future opportunities.

In mid-November 2005, the IRB Council announced the awarding of the 2011 Rugby World Cup to New Zealand. It was the first time that hosting rights had been awarded to a nation six years in advance. The voting procedure was managed by a team of independent auditors.

Japan Rugby stated:

“

We want to help with the spread of rugby fever. The bid for 2011 was part of this. Sixty percent of the world lives in Asia and we believe that dispersing rugby fever in the biggest continent on the planet will help the IRB in their mission of globalizing the game we all love.

”

2015: England

See also: 2015 Rugby World Cup#Bids

The host for the 2015 tournament has been confirmed as England, as they successfully won their bid on 28 July 2009.

2019: Japan

The host for the 2019 tournament are Japan, who won the right to host the tournament on 28 July 2009.

External links

• New Zealand to host RWC 2011
• Joint Rugby World Cup bid office set up
• NZ Wins Bid To Host 2011 Rugby World Cup
• Japan Rugby news on bid