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South Africa's RWC hopes dashed
Tuesday, July 28
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The South African Rugby Union on Tuesday congratulated England and Japan following the confirmation by the IRB Council that those nations should host the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup tournaments respectively.
The IRB Council voted to accept the recommendation by the board of Rugby World Cup (Ltd), ending the hopes of South Africa and Italy of staging one of the tournaments.
“We are immensely disappointed but we congratulate the successful Unions,” said Mark Alexander, Bid Committee Chairman and SARU Deputy President. “I am sure that they will deliver successful and memorable tournaments and we will support them in any way we can.
“Obviously, this is a sad day for us as we proved in our Tender document that South Africa offered the IRB the prospect of an outstanding event both from a commercial and development perspective. The choice between our Bid and that of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was a narrow one but we respect the Council’s decision.”
Mr Alexander thanked the South African government for their unstinting support.
“We worked very closely with our Government and without their support we would not have been able to table a Bid,” he said. “They worked extremely hard in support of our campaign and I’m sure they share our disappointment. I would like to place on record SARU’s deep appreciation of their hard work and commitment.”
SARU Bid to host both the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup tournaments. The Tender document was submitted on May 8, followed by a presentation to the IRB Council five days later.
The Rugby World Cup Board tabled a report and recommendations to the Council on June 28, identifying England (2015) and Japan (2019) as their preferred hosts.
“In a very short space of time we prepared an outstanding Bid,” said Mr Alexander. “The process has been an intense one but a worthwhile one. We faced a tough challenge but it was our duty to attempt to bring the tournament back to South Africa and present the best case we possibly could and we have achieved that.”
South Africa will defend their title as Rugby World Cup champions next in New Zealand in 2011.
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I can understand Japan in 2019 (although let's face it, what will the attendance figures be like?). Japan is one of the most expensive countries in the world and won't be cheap to get to either. They obviously wanted to expand the sphere of influence of the game to Asia by accepting Japan's proposal.
...as for England though. It IS a farce. I'm living there currently and it's obvious that it's money orientated. RWC Ltd are aware that they won't get the returns from RWC 2011 in NZ so the following World Cup they need the revenue to tide themselves over. It's so apparent it's a joke.
The cost of tickets will be a joke just like they are during the Autumn Tests in Twickenham. Once again, it's the British fans who benefit (like they did with the Lions Tour) in terms of affordability. They want to take the game to the people...really? How many Saffa's will afford to be able to come over here?
Truly disappointed.
O well i guess we have to wait till 2023 or 27..
but i think we all knew it was on the cards given the impending financial loss for new zealand in 2011.
there's obviously no shortage of horse-trading when it comes to these things, though if i recall correctly nz's bid was largely predicated upon the fact that it will be the last real chance for the nation to host the tournament (the market/facilities there just aren't big enough to cater for the growing game and world cup event; something we're already expecting to see in 2 years through the returns shortfall...
pity, as would have been a great fillip for our economy and great to perhaps guarantee continued use of the 2010 infrastructure and stadiums.
stoked for japan though and would love to see a world cup in italy... sign me up for some of that!
that being said, considering that we couldn't sell out 2 of the 3 lions test and the recent ab match, why the hell would the IRB give it to SA?
What you can't do is blame the Lions supporters for the price of tickets, the SARU set those prices, just as you can't blame the value of sterling when the Rand is on its arse.
But someone please tell me what is going on in SA when what was once the greatest game in World Rugby (SA v NZ) was played in a stadium that had at lease 10,000 seats empty.
As for the non sell out at Bloem.
1. Free Staters are a bunch of chops
2. Ticket prices
3. Over supply of sport in SA the last year or so.
Tri - Nations, S14, Currie Cup, IPL, Confed Cup, ICC Kock out cup, Aussie cricket tour ect.
4. Credit crunch
Still, all of the above is no excuse.
I actually don’t mind it going to the UK it is easy to travel about everyone talks English and it is in a sensible time zone. Japan is going to be very very expensive for a tourist and the kick off times will be ridiculous for the majority of the rugby supporting world that don’t go out there.
SARU needs to get its house in order re ticket pricing and distribution. I paid the 1000 + for the Lions games and had pretty cr@p seats because the grounds were 'sold out'. It was a different story at the games with lots of spare seats.
BigWelshRich there are always going to be games at a RWC that are less popular (Wales v Ireland) and need to be held at smaller grounds . Problem is SA does not do many small grounds.
I say pick a country you would like to watch rugby in & start saving. France was good fun in 07.
It's unfortunate but fair.... I just hope we get the next one though!