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Reports out of South Africa claim that South Africa may replace Japan as the host nation for Rugby World Cup 2019. A number of sites including Super Sport and Rugby Mag are reporting that South Africa could be asked to be on standby to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup following a series of setbacks to current hosts Japan.
SARU chief executive Jurie Roux is reported to have had secret meetings this week with World Rugby who were interested in clarifying South Africa’s interest and ability of stepping in to replace Japan as the hosts.
Supersport has gone so far to state that the SARU have confirmed that the meetings indeed took place and the South Africa will host if required.
Concerns from World Rugby are based on the new national stadium no longer being constructed. It was to be the center-piece of Japan hosting the tournament but, curiously, was far less important overall than the much smaller Eden Park in Auckland which hosted the 2011 final.
Unlike Eden Park, Japan has a number of large stadiums listed to host matches including Yokohama International Stadium which hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final and is a comparable siz to the Millennium Stadium which will host eight matches this year and hosted in both Rugby World Cups 2007 and 1999.
Such a drastic change from Japan to South Africa would be a significant blow to the brand of World Rugby with a new host cast aside in favor of a previous host nation and one that was unable to win hosting rights via election for Rugby World Cups 2011, 2015 and 2019.
