2015 is England's greatest chance to win Rugby World Cup

RFU chief's rallying call as venues named for 2015

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2 May 2013

England are in the best position to win the 2015 World Cup on home soil, the chief executive of the Rugby Football Union said today.

Ian Ritchie’s claim came as the 13 venues for the tournament were announced in London.

The final will be at Twickenham on October 31 and Ritchie is confident Stuart Lancaster’s side can taste glory for the first time since 2003.

“We have no excuses for not being well prepared and while I am not saying Stuart Lancaster will have an open cheque book, we will invest in the game and the England team because winning the Cup is the ultimate,” said Ritchie.

“We need to deliver and we will all be judged on this tournament. We have a unique opportunity with the Cup being played at home and we are doing our ultimate to be in the best position.”

There will be 17 matches in London with Twickenham hosting 10, including the opening match, which sees England face a qualifier — possibly Fiji — but Wembley will host just two even though it has the biggest capacity of 90,256. Wembley’s first game will see the All Blacks play Argentina on September 20 and four days later the defending champions will move to the Olympic Stadium to play a qualifier from Africa.

Major construction work at the Olympic Stadium — to create a new home for West Ham in 2016 — will be needed to reduce the capacity from its current 80,000 to 54,000 and tournament organisers are confident the venue will be ready.

England Rugby 2015 chief executive Debbie Jevans said: “It won’t be a building site and the roof will be in place. They are installing a Desso pitch similar to Twickenham and the programme for the work is in place. There were some complexities to be sorted out including West Ham’s decision but all of those conversations have taken place.”

The Olympic Stadium was chosen to ensure the event generates the £80million guarantee demanded by the International Rugby Board.

With Wembley contracted to the NFL in October, that limited the number of games that could be held there. Therefore, tournament organisers needed another major stadium to add to their list and have thrashed out an agreement with the Olympic Stadium that could also see England play a warm-up match to act as a test event.

Jevans said: “We had a fee base to work with for hiring venues and the Olympic Stadium is the same as others and they are keen to be seen as a multi-sport stadium.

“Wembley has a contract with the NFL which means the stadium must be free for a match in October and we’re delighted to have two games there. We will meet the financial targets [set by the IRB].”

Crucially, Twickenham will be the venue for two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final to maximise its 81,605 capacity and hospitality operations that will boost tournament revenue.

Twickenham will also be the home for England in all but one of their pool matches, including the crucial clashes with Wales on September 26 and Australia on October 3. England’s only match away from HQ is against the play‑off winner from qualification which is being taken to the Manchester City Stadium on October 10.

Of the 13 venues only two are Premiership rugby grounds — Gloucester’s Kingsholm and Exeter’s Sandy Park — while seven host club football.

The tournament is taking place during the football season and officials have received assurances from the Premier League and UEFA, who run the Champions League and Europa League, that they will try to adjust their fixture list to accommodate the rugby.

“While rightly they won’t commit, we don’t anticipate challenges,” said Jevans.

Today’s announcement meant disappointment for five bidders, who had made the long list.

Jevans added: “The support and interest shown by Coventry, Bristol, Derby, Southampton and Sunderland has been excellent and, while they have not been selected to host, we will continue to build upon the relationships forged throughout this process to ensure that these cities will still play a part in this truly nationwide tournament.”

Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will stage eight matches, including two of the quarter-finals and two of Wales’ pool games.

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