The Rugby World Cup Hosting Process is Broken

The Rugby World Cup hosting process is broken; new candidates are reluctant to bid. Try as World Rugby might to encourage new bids there is not a line of fresh candidates to host their flagship tournament. The evidence paints a telling image, one of RWCs returning to prior countries as fresh bids fail to get off the ground or miss out to prior hosts.

RWC 2023 will be hosted by France. The same country hosted RWC 2007 with Wales and Scotland also both hosting matches. Wales hosted RWC matches again in 2015 and also hosted in 1991 and 1999. The 1991 and 1999 tournaments had matches in England, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

RWC 2023 will be the 10th Men’s RWC. It continues the pattern of the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th RWCs. All were hosted by Five Nations unions. In short, RWC 2023 will be in France again but will be the first RWC in Europe that does not involve matches in the UK.

France won RWC 2023 hosting rights in November 2017, beating Ireland and South Africa. Nonetheless, World Rugby had named South Africa as the recommended host one month prior. All three had previously hosted RWC matches; only Ireland had not hosted a RWC Final.

There had been additional options in Argentina and Italy. Both countries declared interest in bidding to host RWC 2023. Ultimately neither did. There were a variety of factors for pulling out. Of note was that both were reluctant to bid against France.

Italy bid for RWCs 2015 and 2019. Like Japan’s bid for RWC 2011, the Italian option was unsuccessful. A prior host was allocated the tournament. New Zealand 2011, England 2015, and France 2023 demonstrate that new options failed to secure hosting rights.

Japan 2019 came after World Rugby ratified RWCs 2015 and 2019 together. A similar process is presently on the table for unions to bid for RWCs 2027 and 2031. However, interested parties have been limited. Australia and Russia have announced their intentions for RWC 2027. England 2031 is on the table and a UK and Irish bid is also being analyzed for 2031.

In 2017, during Mauricio Macri’s presidency, Argentina targeted winning the hosting rights to RWC 2027. Macri and UAR staff met with World Rugby officials in Buenos Aires. The project noted that it would cost US$200 million to host. The projected return would likely calm any critic; RWC 2019 brought US$4 billion into the Japanese economy.

Rather than bidding for RWC 2027 or 2031, Argentina is supporting SANZAAR partner Australia’s RWC 2027 bid. Similarly, Argentina supported South Africa’s 2023 bid. Argentina was reluctant to bid against either and did not do so. Another factor was Argentina’s belief that France’s bid would be unmatchable. This proved correct.

Argentina and Italy are the top of many people’s lists of future RWC hosts. Their status as Tier 1 teams involved in the annual Rugby Championship and Six Nations is explanatory. Argentina is the only Semi Finalists in RWC history to never have hosted a RWC match. Italy defeated South Africa in 2016.

The strength of a test team is one variable, yet there are many others. Some considerations merit greater importance. Indeed, one could argue that non-competitiveness is a myth. Consider Spain. Los Leones played in RWC 1999. The test team plays regularly against more recent RWC teams including Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, and Uruguay. The results show an improving team in recent years despite not qualifying for the past five RWCs.

Spain has demonstrated that it could host be considered to host a RWC. First, 25,000 attended the 2016 Copa del Rey Final in Valladolid. Second, 32,000 were in attendance for Biarritz vs Ospreys in San Sebastián in 2010. Third, 52,282 attended the 2018 European Champions Cup Final in Bilbao. Fourth, 99,124 attended the 2016 Top 14 Final in Barcelona.

The 10 stadiums required are there, including one with the required 60,000 stadium capacity to host a RWC Final. The country is accessible with flights around the world and Spain is a neighboring market to the Six Nations. It is, however, an additional new candidate that is reluctant to bid.

A RWC in Argentina, Italy, or Spain would tick the box of growing the game. A return to prior hosts achieves the opposite. World Rugby has supported a USA bid for RWC 2031. Would a USA bid or a USA-Canada bid win the required votes against an England or UK and Ireland RWC 2031 bid? Based on who won hosting rights to RWCs 2011, 2015, and 2023 it would appear to be very difficult.

World Rugby’s RWC host process is broken. It can be addressed with innovation. It is time for World Rugby to introduce a rule of a 20-year wait between RWC matches in host nations. In addition, World Rugby ought to work directly with prior unsuccessful bidders to see their interest and capabilities. Until this happens there is no end in sight of recycling RWC hosts.