ENGLAND and Wales are likely to make a joint bid to stage the 1999 World Cup. This week Dudley Wood, the Rugby Football Union secretary, said his union would be considering a formal bid along with the Welsh Rugby Union, though so far neither union has discussed the matter at executive committee level.
Wood believes England and Wales together have enough first-class grounds to stage the competition, even though there may be more finalists than the 16 who will come to South Africa for the 1995 World Cup. He pointed out that the RFU is to invest heavily in ground improvements, giving each of the leading clubs Stg 100 000 from the Stg 6-million generated by the sale of transmission rights to Sky Television.
“There was some talk about England taking over the 1995 World Cup when there were doubts about South Africa’s ability to go ahead with it, but our interest basically has always been 1999,” said Wood. “We would like to host the tournament in conjunction with Wales, though we would prefer to have the final at Twickenham, where we will have a capacity of 78 000.”
By 1999 England’s other major grounds at Leicester, Gloucester and Otley, where World Cup matches were held in 1991, will have been substantially refurbished and upgraded. Wales, too, has grounds such as Stradey Park, St Helen’s and Pontypool Park. Cardiff Arms Park, which has a 52 000 capacity, staged five World Cup games in 1991.
However, England and Wales are likely to face stiff competition from France, rumoured to be considering a joint bid with Italy.
The International Board will make a decision at its annual meeting in London next March. It is likely to keep faith with its policy of alternating the venue between southern and northern hemispheres, so a European nation must be favourite. Even so, Canada and the United States may come into the reckoning, separately or jointly, if they attract sponsors and financial backing.