2015 Rugby World Cup

The 2015 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament will be hosted by England^{[nb 1]} from 18 September to 31 October 2015.^[1] Twickenham Stadium in London will host the final.

England was chosen to host the competition in July 2009, beating rival bids from Italy, Japan and South Africa. The competition's organisers, Rugby World Cup Limited, had recommended England to the International Rugby Board (IRB; now known as World Rugby^{[nb 2]})^[3]

Of the 20 teams competing at the 2015 World Cup, 12 of them qualified by finishing in the top three places in their groups in the 2011 World Cup. The other eight teams qualified through regional competition. Of the 20 countries that competed in the previous World Cup in 2011, there was only one change – Uruguay replaced Russia.

Submission of interest[edit]

The International Rugby Board (IRB) requested that any member unions wishing to host this tournament or the 2019 Rugby World Cup should indicate their interest by 15 August 2008. This would be purely to indicate interest; no details had to be provided at this stage. A record ten unions indicated formal interest in hosting the 2015 and/or the 2019 events: Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.[4] Argentina had been reported in early 2008 as having given preliminary consideration to bidding,[5] but did not ultimately formally indicate an interest in bidding.

Of the 10 nations that had expressed formal interest, many withdrew their candidacy in early 2009. Jamaica was the first to withdraw its candidacy.[6] Russia withdrew in February 2009 to concentrate on bidding for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens,[7] Australia and Ireland withdrew in spring 2009 due to financial reasons.[8][9] Scotland withdrew in April 2009 after they were unable to secure co-hosting partners for the tournament.[10] Wales was the last nation to officially pull out after they failed to submit a bid by 8 May 2009,[11] but Wales backed England's bid and some games will be played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.[12]

Final bids[edit]

The final nations that bid for the right to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup were England, Japan, South Africa and Italy. Four confirmed bids was a record number for the Rugby World Cup.[6]

On 28 July 2009, the IRB confirmed that England would host the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and Japan would host the 2019 event, having voted 16–10 in favour of approving the recommendation from Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL) that England and Japan should be named hosts.[13][14] RWCL chairman Bernard Lapasset revealed the result on 28 July 2009 at IRB headquarters.[13]

England[edit]

In September 2007, The Guardian reported that the Rugby Football Union had decided to submit a bid. BBC News reported in February 2009 that the intent was for a solo bid from the RFU, but with the possibility of some matches being played in Scotland, Wales or Ireland.[15] It was hoped that the 2015 World Cup would add to Britain's "Decade of Sport" (including the 2012 Summer Olympics).

It was also claimed that the bid had a very strong chance of success due to the IRB's belief that the 2011 tournament might make a loss, therefore making it particularly important to ensure a profit, which was considered a strong point of England's proposed bid.[16] The chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, Francis Baron, said that the tournament will target sales of 3 million tickets. England's package was projected to generate £300m for the IRB – £220m in commercial returns from broadcasting, sponsorship and merchandising, and the £80m tournament fee