England clinch £300m 2015 Rugby world Cup

Chris Jones
29 Jul 2009

England today won the right to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup, fighting off last-ditch opposition from South Africa and Italy.

England were nominated by Rugby World Cup Limited as the preferred bidder and that choice was confirmed by a vote of 16 to 10 in their favour at the International Rugby Board Council in Dublin.

Matches will be staged at Twickenham, Wembley, the Millennium Stadium and leading football grounds, including Old Trafford and Emirates Stadium.

The Rugby Football Union's aggressive bid promised at least £60million more revenue than the other two competing countries and now has to deliver its promise to fill the International Rugby Board's coffers to the tune of £300m — which will be used to expand the game globally.

Japan was awarded the 2019 World Cup at the same vote and chairman of the RFU Martyn Thomas said: “There is great joy and relief at being named hosts for 2015 and, I am sure, Japan feels the same.

“We offer commiserations to South Africa and Italy because we have been in their position and know how they are feeling.

“We have been tasked with delivering what the IRB want in terms of revenue for the game.

“Australia did an immense job with the World Cup in 2003, France raised the bar in 2007 and now we have to raise it again and will be using some of the most iconic stadia in sport as part of the tournament.” By choosing England as sole hosts — they jointly held the tournament in 1991 with the other home unions and France — the IRB have charged the RFU with the job of generating record profits.

With the 2011 Cup in New Zealand predicted to make a £20m loss, the RFU's financial power was seen as the only way to get the event back into the black. The 2007 tournament in France generated a £122m surplus thanks to sponsorship, television revenue, merchandising and sales of 2.2m tickets and 100,000 hospitality packages.

Those returns can't be matched in 2011 so the NZRFU and New Zealand Government will cover the losses.

The IRB get 95 per cent of their revenue from the World Cup and they are committed to spending £150m on the game over the next four years.

There could now be a golden decade of sport in this country with the 2012 Olympics followed by the 2013 Rugby League World Cup — also awarded today — the 2015 Rugby World Cup and, potentially, the 2018 football World Cup.