Emirates Stadium will stage the bronze medal match and pool games at the 2015 Rugby World Cup if England win the battle to host it.

It was revealed today that Arsenal's home is one of six football grounds the Rugby Football Union plan to use along with Anfield, Elland Road, St Mary's Stadium, St James' Park and the Ricoh Arena.

The final and semi-finals would be at Twickenham with Wembley and the Millennium Stadium hosting quarter-finals and pool matches of the tournament, which is scheduled to run from
4 September to 17 October.

England last hosted the event in 1991 but this is the first time so many leading football grounds will be included while Gloucester's Kingsholm and Leicester's Welford Road are the only club rugby stadia set to be used. Details of England's bid were unveiled as the RFU attempted to win over the International Rugby Board in Dublin with a decision on the hosts for 2015 and 2019 being made by the IRB Council on 28 July.

Although England are only bidding for the first of those tournaments Italy, Japan and South Africa are in the running for both. The RFU had to give an £80million guarantee, backed by the government, to allow the bid to go ahead.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron said: “We are 100 per cent committed to delivering an outstanding Rugby World Cup. These are difficult times, however our bid represents a low risk but high potential return.

“The combined capacity of our chosen stadia is in the region of 700,000 seats. Our target is to sell three million seats, that's a 30 per cent increase on France 2007.”