Who will be World Cup hosts in 2023?

 
The Crowd Roar Guru

By True Tah, 6 Jun 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Guru

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Wallabies v Ireland, Croke Park November 16, 2009. Wallabies drew with Ireland 20 all. Photo by Pothale

Whilst the hosts for both the 2015 and 2019 IRB World Cups have been announced to be England and Japan respectively, there has been minimal discussion about potential hosts for any subsequent World Cups.

From where I stand, there are three possible choices to host the 2023 IRB World Cup: Argentina, Ireland and Italy. From a tourists perspective, I think all three of them would be a winner, and from a rugby perspective, all three contenders have stronger credentials than Japan.

Argentina

Los Pumas hold a proud history in rugby, and have beaten every major team except South Africa and New Zealand, and they have actually drawn with the All Blacks. In the 2007 IRB World Cup, they were the third-placed side.

On their home turf, Argentina traditionally are a lot harder to beat. If Argentina were chosen as the hosts for 2023, it would mean that the IRB World Cup will have been held on every continent, except Antarctica and North America, and this would be achieved within 40 years (it only took FIFA 64 years for a nation outside Europe or Latin America to host the World Cup).

A big plus is that games could be shared with other South American countries, such as Chile, Uruguay or Brazil. Given that Rugby Sevens is due to make its debut in Rio 2016, the Brazilians may well have an appetite for the full version of the game.

Finally, there are plenty of futbol stadia that could be used to host games, and generally the Argentine futbol scene has never opposed rugby – Maradona (Argentina’s favourite son and its most famous citizen) is a confirmed supporter of Los Pumas and in 2007, the two biggest sports teams in the country (Boca Juniors and River Plate) agreed to defer their clash (the Superclasico) to enable Argentine sports fans to watch Los Pumas qualify for their first every semi-finals of the IRB World Cup.

The first major barrier to an IRB World Cup being held in Argentina is that it is in an unfriendly timezone for European, African and Antipodean viewers, and this is likely to reduce the potential pay-TV dollars an Argentine World Cup can command.

The second major barrier is the tournament hosting fee that the IRB charges, which is likely to be upwards of $US 100 million, and Argentina’s economy is not such that the UAR or the Argentine government can really afford it.

The final barrier is the UAR itself, an organisation which has almost brought the sport in Argentina to bankruptcy and is well known for its opposition to professionalism. Given this, I have doubts that the UAR could successfully run an IRB World Cup in a professional manner.

Ireland

Whilst Ireland has hosted World Cup games in 1991 and 1999, I believe that the Irish would do a fantastic job of hosting it on their own, and market it as an unified Irish bid, as for rugby purposes, both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are one and the same, and potentially this would be the biggest sporting event to be held in Ireland to date.

Ireland has certainly improved itself on the field over the past few years, such that they are ranked in the top five teams in the world. Domestically, rugby in Ireland has improved its profile substantially, as evidenced by a Heineken Cup game between two Irish provincial teams drawing over 80,000 to Croke Park. Ireland also has the benefit of being in the European timezone, and is therefore very attractive for sponsors.

Again, the IRB hosting fee is likely to be an impediment to the hosting of the tournament as in the case of Argentina, but a more pressing issue is the availability of grounds. Whilst the Aviva Stadium is looking to be a fantastic 50,000 seat stadium, and Thomond Park is also new, you need a lot more than two stadia to host a World Cup.

There are plenty of suitably sized stadia in Ireland, the issue is that the vast majority of these are owned or controlled by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Historically the GAA has not been the greatest fan of rugby, to the point that rugby was not permitted to be played at GAA grounds, although this opposition has diminished to the point that Ireland has been playing all of its Six Nations home games at Croke Park, the home of the GAA.

However, the GAA may not be so keen as to give a rival sport, which happens to be foreign, a massive free kick, and this is understandable. The bottom-line is that if the GAA is not kept onside, Ireland will never be in a position to host the IRB World Cup on its own.

Italy

Italy did lodge a submission to host the 2015 or 2019 IRB World Cups, under the slogan “For the Enlargement of the Frontiers of Our Sport.” Whilst this bid was ultimately unsuccessful, it certainly looked like a great bid, with plenty of fantastic stadia, transport facilities, easy access for fans from France, Britain and Ireland and in a favourable time-zone for European and African viewers.

On top of this, the Italian government was prepared to fund the excessive IRB hosting fee, although whether this is again the case in 2023 remains to be seen, especially if the Italian economy goes the way of Greece and Portugal.

The major impediment to a successful hosting of an Italian IRB World Cup is the Italian team itself. The Italian team really needs to be a lot more competitive than they are now. Italy has never made it out of the group stage of the IRB World Cup and have never beaten any of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or England.

Additionally, the Italian team has become somewhat of a refuge for other nationalities, in particular Argentines, and the average Italian can be forgiven for scratching his head as to why his national rugby team is dominated by players with Argentine accents. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that given the proximity to the likes of France, England and Ireland, thousands of fans are likely to flock to Italy and help ensure the tournament is kept alive.

In conclusion, from a personal viewpoint, I would love to see Argentina get awarded 2023, as it would be a reward for a country which has given a lot to the world of rugby union and it would be a massive opportunity to win new fans in South America.

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