Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Football stadia part of 2015 bid

Millennium Stadium in Cardiff
The Millennium Stadium is used for Welsh rugby and football internationals

A successful England bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup would involve the use of football stadia such as Wembley and Anfield, BBC Sport understands.

Full details of the bid will be made public after it is presented to the International Rugby Board on Wednesday.

It is understood nine cities will be used for pool matches, with Old Trafford, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the Emirates also involved.

The Rugby Football Union is targeting ticket sales of over three million.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron confirmed the bid last week, stating it was "time we brought the tournament back to England".

The RFU's five-strong Dublin delegation meeting on Wednesday includes 2003 World Cup winners Lawrence Dallaglio and Will Greenwood, plus Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Other football stadia to be used in pool matches are believed to also include St Mary's stadium in Southampton, Elland Road in Leeds, the Walkers Stadium in Leicester, Coventry City's Ricoh Arena and Newcastle's St James' Park.

It is also proposed Twickenham would host the final but for the group games, Gloucester's Kingsholm and Leicester's Welford Road are the only recognised club rugby stadia set to be used.

Ireland and Scotland recently pulled out of any co-hosting bid with the RFU, while the decision for England to make a solo bid comes after Twickenham's failure to stage the 2007 World Cup, having lost by a landslide margin to France.

England hosted the World Cup in 1991 along with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France and former England captain Dallaglio is confident his country would provide the perfect stage for the tournament.

Other countries in the running are South Africa - hosts in 1995 - Japan and Italy, with bids to host the tournament having to be submitted by 8 May.

The IRB will vote on the hosts for both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups on 28 July.

New Zealand will stage the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

ะพ 11:13 PM

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