“Aye, There’s the Rub!”

There is a big challenge for the IRB-The International Rugby Board in the next nine and a half months: They must not just choose one, but two countries who will host the Rugby World Cups in 2015 and 2019.  There are no shortage of bids: England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales have bids in for 2015. Australia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica(?), Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales for 2019.

The IRB needs to find ways to develop the game beyond the usual countries like the Six Nations countries and the Tri Nations group.

I think Japan’s bid intrigues me a great deal. From a rugby standpoint, they have improved a lot over the last several years. They are bringing in a lot of foriegn coaches, particularly from New Zealand to develop the game in the Land of the Rising Sun. It’s a country that has the infastructure and the stadiums to host. They also have the potential for a lot of corporate support. I would like to see the Japanese given a shot at hosting in 2015.

For the 2019 edition, I do think that going with either Scotland or Ireland would be a good choice-I don’t think the IRB would go wrong either way. Neither country has hosted a Rugby World Cup Final-preliminary rounds, yes, but neve a final. It will be interesting to see how things play out in the next nine and a half months.

It’s a fine line that the IRB must walk, between developing the game and catering to traditional rugby fans. It also must ask how will grass roots support be for local fans to buy match tickets, to say nothing of how will it be for tourists to come-that was a big advantage that France had last year in hosting the 2007 IRB World Cup-it was close for the fans from the home nations, but had the infrastructure for fans to be able to come from overseas to see matches.  It’s a safe bet potential host countries are doing their homework to see what France did well, and what the Kiwis will do when they host the even in 2011. Time will tell…