Ireland to host Rugby World Cup in 2023?

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Ireland to host Rugby World Cup?

I was listening to a piece on Newstalk on Friday evening about this and it seemed quite serious truth be told. Economist David McWilliams was on, former Irish coach Eddie O Sullivan, IRFU spokespeople and transport and sport Minister Leo Varadkar was on too lending his support.

All spoke about it being a distinct possibility that Ireland would submit an application to host the 2023 RWC.

Many points for and against this obviously.

The main issue seemed to be stadiums of the right quality. NZ spent 300m or something like that on developing their stadiums to make sure they were to a certain standard for the RWC. The people on air recognised early on that without the support of the GAA Ireland's bid would die as they own a lot of stadiums, but more importantly the only stadium in Ireland over 60,000 (a necessity to host a RWC final).

Assuming the GAA would support the bid (which is by no means a sure thing) Ireland's stadiums would include:

Croke Park
Lansdowne Road
Thomond Park
Ravenhill -needs to be developed
The RDS -needs to be developed
The Sportsground- needs to be developed
A GAA stadium in Castlebar can't remember the name
Another GAA stadium in the midlands can't remember the name

There are others like Musgrave Park and Donnybrook etc too.

On the stadiums front, they may be a bit small to host 1/4 and 1/2 finals. Obviously the final would be in Croke but in the 1/4's we'd need 4 big stadiums and we may be a bit short there IMO. I'm not sure what stadiums the kiwi's used for the 1/4's tbh.

Other things that were discussed on the show were, the Irish volunteering spirit. The Kiwi's really bought into the RWC as it's such a huge part of their culture and they really made it a good place for supporters to go. I (like the panel on the show Friday evening) believe we Irish could put on a serious show for the travelling supporters. Our hospitality is renowned and we take rugby seriously. I'd like to think we are a welcoming people and respectful (for the most part). I think the atmosphere at some of the games would be amazing and we could really try an infuse some of our Celtic culture into pre match routines the way the Kiwi's did with the Maori culture. We did a good job with the Special Olympics.

Our infrastructure is quite good now.
There are motorways to the main cities and trains and buses are relatively regular. One thing is for sure, no one would need to fly!

The IRFU said they'd be willing to do it and I think mentioned meeting the government at some point and said it may be an idea to look at doing it with Scotland or Wales as well as an option. The Government said they'd be interested in looking at the opportunity

David McWilliams said that even though RWC 2011 was supposed to be a financial disaster for NZ, they actually have made money off it. Only just but they did and obviously it will do great things for their tourist industry.

Some things that may be an issue:
The GAA not wanting to be involved.
The IRFU making a hames of ticket prices again
The lack 30,000+ stadiums for 1/4+1/2 finals
The IRB may want to send it to a developing nation.

What do people think?
Would you like the 2023 RWC to be in Ireland?
Will Stadiums be a huge problem?
Any other set backs you can think of?

It will happen guys and it will be awesome ... BELIEVE

marty2086 wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:You need 4 grounds over 45,000 to host a World Cup - Ireland have 1 rugby ground that fits that criteria.

We wouild be wholly dependant on the GAA providing most of the grounds.
I just don't think it is feasible.

A joint Celtic bid with Murrayfield, Millenium, Croke and Landsdowne being the main ground makes sense.

Thormond, Ravenhill, Musgrave and RDS could be the minor grounds

QF for each of the major grounds, 1SF and the 3rd place play off for Millenium and Murrayfield.
1 SF for Landsdowne, Final for Croke

Now that could work.

The only problem is you need the money in place before you bid and the Irish goverment arent exactly rolling in it

What the issue

Firstly it is a combined bid from 4 geographical areas of which the South is only one (albeit the main one)
The only grounds not up to scratch have planed redevelopments already in place.
The infrastructure is already there
2023 is a long way off

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

aucklandlaurie wrote: When people talk about stadiums,there appears to be plenty of talk about grandstands,but surely the quality of the playing surface has to be a point of consideration as well?would Ireland have a dozen grounds that have surfaces fit for playing top level International rugby? I dont know,Ive can only remeber tests at Landsdowne road and Croke Park.

Interesting question that Aukland.
I think they would to be honest, any game I've gone to see or played myself in the ground has been good save Donnybrook Stadium which is a sandpit.
I know the Sportsground has been praised as one of the best pitch surfaces in Britain and Ireland. I think Lansdowne is good, same with thomond and Croke.

Wasn't aware of the big GAA stadium up north being built that would be a huge boost.

Unfortunatly no really big match out west unless a big stadium materialises or I've missed one. <???>

Would people be adverse to Argentina getting a RWC?

McHale park in Castlebar holds 40 something thousand so that would be big enough as it is also all-seater.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:If we went with Scotland what stadiums would we use>

Murrayfield, Firhill any more?

Ibrox and parkhead mayb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GAA_Stadiums_by_Capacity

If the GAA agree there are plenty of options but what are their teams supposed to play in during September?

The truth is that rugby is very much a minority sport in Ireland and just wouldn't attract the crowds to ever stage a successful RWC for the IRB coffers.

I'd change the whole format of the RWC anyway by having group games staged in smaller rugby nations, with only the knock out stages played in the 'host' country (as well as their own group games of course).

In that way the game could spread without putting undue pressure to sell all the unattractive tickets to a concentrated few in one country.

Why would the GAA agree to renting out their ground? Money, pure and simple. The rent for soccer and rugby in Croke Park was a fantastic earner for them. If this started to become a runner, I'd predict that many counties would start pitching their stadium for bigger/higher profile games. They might get renovations done for free (always nice). The gaa county coffers get rejuvenated (don't underestimate what bad shape those are in for many counties). The tourism influx and boost in local economy will benefit a lot of GAA members' day jobs. And logistically speaking, how games would be impacted, we've seen pitches turned around from rugby to soccer in 2-3 days in the old lansdowne (haven't we?), proper planning and some rule that extra time is to be played instead of replays for that season (something I'd prefer anyway in the GAA).

In a country with about 250,000 rugby fans, who is going to buy around 1.25 million tickets?

The Great Aukster wrote:In a country with about 250,000 rugby fans, who is going to buy around 1.25 million tickets?

Not only would I query your figure of 250,000 but we are talking about 11 years from now and the IRFU and the provincial branches are working hard to expand the support of rugby in Ireland. Many of the tickets would go to corporate partners and union and government officials taking away many of the allocation. Throw in the fact that Ireland is a popular tourist destination and the proximity of Wales Scotland England and France and you have more taken up. There are also those with a casual interest who decide its an experience worth checking out because of the hype around it all.

The biggest thing would be the long term impact of it all including improved stadia and infrastructure but also on the sport including more kids taken it up, more fans going to matches and more cash going into the game from top to bottom

If they get from 250k to 1.25 million in 10 years, someone deserves a bonus.

The Great Aukster wrote:In a country with about 250,000 rugby fans, who is going to buy around 1.25 million tickets?

On an island
- with 5 million people (open for correction), many of whom will be up for hosting the largest scale event that this island could ever land (olympics, soccer world cup, soccer european championship(?). I might be doing a disservice to the special olympics,
- with ferries from Scotland, Wales, England, France,
- with cheap flights from scotland, wales, england, france, italy, georgia(?), romania(?),
- with a diaspora that has increased significantly in the last 3-4 years heading to Oz, New Zealand amongst other that will be away from Ireland for up to a decade by the time to host this comes around and might have itchy feet to come back and see everyone,

So long as the ticket prices are fecked up, it should be doable.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:
5 million people (open for correction)

Just over 6.6 million I think including NI, maybe a bit more (1.7m + 4.8m). I'd imagine this will be a fair bit higher come the RWC.

Can I vote 1 & 2

The Great Aukster wrote:In a country with about 250,000 rugby fans, who is going to buy around 1.25 million tickets?

Well I'd buy more than 5 does that help.

Also a lot of casuals would go.
My wife's only ever game was the International v Italy at Ravenhill.
Pretty certain I could persuade her to go to a match as would my daughter.

The Great Aukster wrote:In a country with about 250,000 rugby fans, who is going to buy around 1.25 million tickets?

Its like how Jim Morrison's ghost said in Waynes World 2 when Wayne and Garth doubted the idea of creating the Waynestock festival.......

....... build it and they will come, Aukster, build it and they will come....

Who's going to build it? can Jim open a few doors?

In the end, it's all about the money. And the figures to back it up.

The money for the IRB. They'll want a backed guarantee of €100m give or take. This would need to be provided on a proportionate basis by both governments - Dublin and Belfast.

Income derives from ticket sales. New Zealand claimed in their bid to create a stadium of 4 million using 13 stadiums - that reduced to 12 following the Christchurch earthquake. That was based on the stadia infrastructure they would have in place and refits/new ones - Eden Park, Dunedin's Forsyth Barr, etc.

The lowest stadium size they had was 15,000 in Napier and Palmerston North, 17,000 in Invercargill and Nelson with 18,000. Wellington installed temp seating to bring them up to 40,000. Eden Park had temp structures to increase to 60,000, reverting to 50,000 after the RWC if I recall. whangarei, Roorua and New Plymouth were in the 20,000 to 26,000 category, and a couple more had 30,000 capacities.

The NZRU claimed they got 133,000 visitors for the event - about 40,000 more than they expected. However, that did impact on their non-event tourists resulting in about an 80,000 net gain overall.

Ireland has a population as a whole of 6.38million (4.58m + 1.8m). It has a massive diaspora abroad, as well as huge numbers of people claiming Irish ancestry/heritage. Tourism Ireland (north-south body) plans to host The Gathering in 2013 - an international tourism promotion based around existing and new events during the year designed to get an extra 300,000 visitors to come to the island over the twelve months. As someone pointed out earlier, drawing in a substantial ex-pat population, as well as visitors from nearby Great Britain (60m), France as well as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to get bums on seats would not be that difficult.

There is sufficient long-term infrastructure in place in terms of roads, rail, bus accommodation, venues. (Whether the idle hotels would last is a question.) It is a country that thrives on, and is well adjusted to tourism-driven business and events.

There has been on-going discussion as to whether September is the right time to host the RWC, and SANZAR and others have been pushing to have it held earlier in the year, with potentially the 6 Nations being truncated or not played it all to shift it. So it doesn't have to be played in September. By the time 2023 rolls around, there may well have been some moves in this regard already.

The key question is around stadia infrastructure and having sufficient capacities to meet the necessary income targets.

The opening, semis, final and bronze final would likely be played between using Croke Park (82,000) and Lansdowne Road (51,000). The precedent is there for using the GAA stadium, and the money for rental would be highly attractive over a 4-6 week period.

Leaving aside the other venues for the moment, what other matches are likely to easily fill both those venues and from which the biggest ticket income could be gained?

Ireland versus any of the top 6 would fill Croke Park in a RWC tournament. England and Wales vs any of the top 6 would likely fill Lansdowne.

Also within Dublin, allowing for the massive concentration of population, you would likely use RDS (20,000) for some pool matches.

Beyond Dublin, you have 4-5 other potential population hubs - Belfast, (Casement 40,000) and (Ravenhill 20,000), Cork (Ui Chaiomh 40,000), Limerick (Thomond 26,000), and Galway (Pearse 36,000).

Beyond those, you have smaller/more dispersed population centres - Thurles (Semple 55,000), Killarney (Fitzgerald 43,000), Kilkenny (Nowlan Park 33,000), Cavan (Breffni Park 32,000), Castlebar (McHale Park 49,000/20,000), and Newry (Pairc Esler 20,000).

The NZRU managed to implement a superb 'adopt-a-team' programme during RWC 2011 as had been done in other countries at other international events. Including Ireland.

During the Special Olympics - 177 cities, towns and villages hosted participants from different countries around the world in 2003. It was run on an all-island basis. They were the first to be held outside the US, and regarded as one of the most successful ever held. The logistics involved in hosting, housing, accommodating and facilitating 7,000 athletes from 150 countries are much greater than 24 teams and their entourages.

It's a small country, so moving around between most cities linked by good motorways is not that difficult. East to west being easier than north to south obviously. But certainly not as difficult or as large compared to New Zealand.

The decision to include Scotland should only happen if other possible hurdles become brick walls in terms of stadium rebuilding/co-operation. But it's simply too big an event to say "nothing to do with us" as a first response.

If it has to include all of Great Britain in order to do it, I'd question:

a) why bother and b) the likelihood of winning it against other countries.

Ireland should do this on its own two feet.

Or not at all.

It can be done.

Had trouble sleeping did you? Whatever the agreements, I think it makes sense to farm out one or two of the quarters and one semi.

There is absalutley no problem with our stadiums capacities heres a list:
Croke Park: 82,300(no upgrade needed)
Semple stadium:55,000(maybe a bit of work on it)
Lansdowne road:50,000(no upgrade needed)
Gaelic grounds:49,00(bit of an upgrade)
Pairc ui caoimh:43,500(upgrade planned)
fitzgerald stadium:43,000(in quiet good condition)
mchale park :42,000(all-seater venue+new tv tower)
casement park:32,000(upgrade planned)
then you dont need as big of stadiums for the smaller matches eg:Namibia vs Fiji.
so you could then use
Pairc talteann:18,000(planned upgrade)
o connor pairc:15,000
+ of couse rugby grounds such as
The RDS :18,500(redevelopment to 23,000 planned)
Thomond park :26,300
Ravenhill 12,500(upgrade planned)
and you have other stadiums that can also be used and they are quiet spread out around the country AND it would give a major boost to a fragile economy.
we could also give some of our matches to murrayfield:60,000 to secure a vote from scotland

There is no good reason that ireland could`nt include other stadia in the Uk in a bid for RWC 2023.After all England bids usually involve other UK countries hosting matches .

Ireland need to have this thing. You have to host a major tourny in something sometime- And this is your best worldlyt sport. Time to step up and stop making excuses- Put some money into getting it and putting it on You will make the money back if you put on a good show

Ireland would have a better chance of filling stadia than Japan.
Go for it!

From what I can find out the internet Argentina, the USA and Russia are all considering bids so if Ireland are going to compete it maybe better to have a Celtic bid along Wales and Scotland.

I have heard from a very, VERY high up source that Ireland are making a big 100%. That the CEO of the GAA has advised the GAA to vote in favour of using the GAA stadiums. The vote is in less than 2 weeks, it will be all over the news apparently.

Lads, Ireland are going for this

Why should Ireland have to share with Scotland and or Wales?

Why should a developing country take precedence ahead of Ireland?

In terms of stadiums, I cant think of a better playing surface than the one at Lansdowne road in all of Europe. (bit of a shame about how the goal posts blend in with the steel girders in the background at one end. but hay who dosent have hometown advantage at some stage ?)

If the GAA are kind enough to allow us to use their stadiums then we can definatley host this on our own.

I know absolutely nothing about this GAA, but is a GAA field long enough to play rugby on?

aucklandlaurie wrote:
I know absolutely nothing about this GAA, but is a GAA field long enough to play rugby on?

Its way bigger than a rugby pitch- so yea

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I have heard from a very, VERY high up source that Ireland are making a big 100%. That the CEO of the GAA has advised the GAA to vote in favour of using the GAA stadiums. The vote is in less than 2 weeks, it will be all over the news apparently.

Lads, Ireland are going for this

Great news Pete. If the GAA give the green light then its game on. It would give the country a massive boost if this happens .

Has Ireland ever gone for a major sporting event before?

Special Olympics 2003 apparently. (see above)

Only problems I can see are, do all stadia need to be all-seater? Only Lansdowne is. No GAA stadium is, Cork should have their new stadium by that time, 60,000 and I think it's all seater.


GAA will do anything for money, so I expect them to take a big chunk. Another problem do the IRFU/Government have money to put into this? Not for another 5 years or so at least, I suppose that would be okay time to develop things.

leinsterman123 wrote:There is absalutley no problem with our stadiums capacities heres a list:
Croke Park: 82,300(no upgrade needed)
Semple stadium:55,000(maybe a bit of work on it)
Lansdowne road:50,000(no upgrade needed)
Gaelic grounds:49,00(bit of an upgrade)
Pairc ui caoimh:43,500(upgrade planned)
fitzgerald stadium:43,000(in quiet good condition)
mchale park :42,000(all-seater venue+new tv tower)
casement park:32,000(upgrade planned)
then you dont need as big of stadiums for the smaller matches eg:Namibia vs Fiji.
so you could then use
Pairc talteann:18,000(planned upgrade)
o connor pairc:15,000
+ of couse rugby grounds such as
The RDS :18,500(redevelopment to 23,000 planned)
Thomond park :26,300
Ravenhill 12,500(upgrade planned)
and you have other stadiums that can also be used and they are quiet spread out around the country AND it would give a major boost to a fragile economy.
we could also give some of our matches to murrayfield:60,000 to secure a vote from scotland

I know this comes across as ignorant and don't mean it to sound insulting, but the size of some of those GAA grounds seem completely out of proportion! I was interested to find a little more about the places they are based in and looked at the Semple Stadium and McHale park. A 53,000 seater in a town with a population of 7600 (wiki figures alert!) and McHale Park a 42,000 seater stadium in a town of 16,000 people.

I get that they are for their counties but looking at their populations, you're asking large numbers of people to travel (in some cases fair distances) to watch games, does this happen for GAA and would they do it for rugby?

If they do, could these towns cope with it? (genuine question, I know nothing about the areas) Could Thurles cope with 50,000+ people staying in and around there for a week+, baring mind you've already earmarked nearby population centres like Limerick and Cork with big games.

It happens alright. You're kind of forgetting that Ireland is pretty small. You could stay in the city in most of these places and be within a half an hours drive/bus from the stadium. Cork could cope I reckon, lot of guesthouses more than hotels in the city but the hotels are pretty big.

Could we not go to Italy in 2023? I really fancy somewhere sunny but still close by!

TO be honest I was wondering about whether there were enough high quality stadia, but if the GAA do say yeah, then Ireland will have no need to get into bed with anyone else in order to win the right to host (well unless it is done the same as t he football, and you buy the tournament). Then it will be up to them what deals they want to strike etc.

BUt personally I would ratehr see Ireland have the RWC on their own than see a 'celtic' bid.

Cumbrian wrote:

leinsterman123 wrote:There is absalutley no problem with our stadiums capacities heres a list:
Croke Park: 82,300(no upgrade needed)
Semple stadium:55,000(maybe a bit of work on it)
Lansdowne road:50,000(no upgrade needed)
Gaelic grounds:49,00(bit of an upgrade)
Pairc ui caoimh:43,500(upgrade planned)
fitzgerald stadium:43,000(in quiet good condition)
mchale park :42,000(all-seater venue+new tv tower)
casement park:32,000(upgrade planned)
then you dont need as big of stadiums for the smaller matches eg:Namibia vs Fiji.
so you could then use
Pairc talteann:18,000(planned upgrade)
o connor pairc:15,000
+ of couse rugby grounds such as
The RDS :18,500(redevelopment to 23,000 planned)
Thomond park :26,300
Ravenhill 12,500(upgrade planned)
and you have other stadiums that can also be used and they are quiet spread out around the country AND it would give a major boost to a fragile economy.
we could also give some of our matches to murrayfield:60,000 to secure a vote from scotland

I know this comes across as ignorant and don't mean it to sound insulting, but the size of some of those GAA grounds seem completely out of proportion! I was interested to find a little more about the places they are based in and looked at the Semple Stadium and McHale park. A 53,000 seater in a town with a population of 7600 (wiki figures alert!) and McHale Park a 42,000 seater stadium in a town of 16,000 people.

I get that they are for their counties but looking at their populations, you're asking large numbers of people to travel (in some cases fair distances) to watch games, does this happen for GAA and would they do it for rugby?

If they do, could these towns cope with it? (genuine question, I know nothing about the areas) Could Thurles cope with 50,000+ people staying in and around there for a week+, baring mind you've already earmarked nearby population centres like Limerick and Cork with big games.

dats a valid point but firstly i never said semple stadium was an all-seater and the reason it has a high capacity is because it hosts quiet a few munster hurling finals and all-ireland 1/4 finals

secondly mchale park would host the connaught football final aswell and from what i believe it was the last ground outside of dublin to host a football all-ireland 1/4 final

lastly not all of these grounds have to be used either.

Ireland is one place I would go for a RWC. Getting the odd rugby match around loads of quality golf and the drinking and the craic. It would be immense

I was astonished to read a post by an Irish man questioning the quantity or quality of stadiums in Ireland. I know this is a rugby forum but good God have you really never heard of these stadiums? Semple is what the third biggest stadium in the country and you'd never heard of it? The pitch in Semple stadium is fantastic by the way.

As for getting to a stadium in the midlands, it's in the midlands! It's a half hour to a two hour drive from anywhere in Ireland! It takes longer to go to a match in London when you live in London.

When the Ryder cup was held in Ireland a couple of years ago the golfers were amazed at the crowds that turned out. Sailing is also a small sport in Ireland yet the Volvo ocean race went from having Galway (population 60,000) as a stopover to finishing the race there. Why? Because so many people turned out to welcome them at four in the morning. People in Ireland love sport, love a big sporting event and will if they can afford it support a big event.

My worry is that this event will be run at a loss again. People can't afford to be paying high prices so if the tickets are reasonable there is no way that they will make a profit. The country can't afford it is what I'm trying to say. If the government decides to do this and the taxpayer ends up carrying the bill I will not be happy.

Also the GAA stadiums being bigger than rugby pitches could have more seating placed around the pitch if they want to increase capacity. Not that it's needed.

My source says:

that Ireland will only do this on their own
that stadiums will be upgraded mainly for media needs and upscaling changing facilities but in some seating too


I got an impression that the money is there, I have no idea how but I'd place a bet on it that it is available

Any developed country can make the money available. Ireland is such a proud country that it would give you such a boost so even if it did run a loss it would be worth it anyway. Any loss incurred on the actuall world cup accounts would be outweighed with the tourism anyway - so your economy wouldnt suffer based on the spending. Greece loves this excuse about the olympics crippled them- the reality is its nothing to do with it , its the way the country and games were run...And offcourse a Rugby world cup in comparison to the olympics is like running a burger van over 20 chain restuarnts.

Ireland has some serious problems though. The country's debt is gigantic. The government is pending billions more than is is making. The country is basically being kept afloat with German money.

It just doesn't seem like hosting a major sports competition at a loss is a very clever thing to do in such an economic crisis.

As big a rugby fan as I am, if Ireland is going to lose money the RWC can feckoff.

Yes it would be a boost for the countrys morale and would generate tourism but would it generate the tourism required to balance out a deficit.

It certainly isnt german money keeping them a float..

It is manly british loans at very low interest rates(under what there credit rating suggests) and europoean wide bail out funds.

Anyway personally i see it as perfect sense- because it wont run a loss anyway when you look at the bigger picture- it will also stimulate the economy in the lead up and boost pride and morale

SecretFly wrote:Just a note on the RDS. The RDS is one of the if not the oldest showjumping grounds in the world. And it was one of the most beautiful ones at that. I personally shudder when I hear rugby fans talking about it needing re-development.

I'd rather see it wiped off the possible venues than to have it touched again with more 're-development'. There are more traditions than rugby at play there and as someone who originally went there as a boy becuase of my love of horses, I think the modernising diggers should stay away now. Enough 'modernising' was done there.

Fly, are you seriously saying that nothing should be done to improve the RDS - the main Anglesea Stand is a tip and getting in and out of it is a nightmare and it should be bulldozed and replaced with a modern stand that will serve both the rugby and horsey set. Maybe I'm missing something but what's beautiful about the RDS arena as it is now - the shrubbery around the pitch or what. Tradition's all very fine, but if we stuck with tradition Croke Park would never have become the magnificent stadium it is now. Sorry I'd have the wrecking ball on to the Anglesea stand tomorrow if I had my way!!!

brennomac wrote:

SecretFly wrote:Just a note on the RDS. The RDS is one of the if not the oldest showjumping grounds in the world. And it was one of the most beautiful ones at that. I personally shudder when I hear rugby fans talking about it needing re-development.

I'd rather see it wiped off the possible venues than to have it touched again with more 're-development'. There are more traditions than rugby at play there and as someone who originally went there as a boy becuase of my love of horses, I think the modernising diggers should stay away now. Enough 'modernising' was done there.

Fly, are you seriously saying that nothing should be done to improve the RDS - the main Anglesea Stand is a tip and getting in and out of it is a nightmare and it should be bulldozed and replaced with a modern stand that will serve both the rugby and horsey set. Maybe I'm missing something but what's beautiful about the RDS arena as it is now - the shrubbery around the pitch or what. Tradition's all very fine, but if we stuck with tradition Croke Park would never have become the magnificent stadium it is now. Sorry I'd have the wrecking ball on to the Anglesea stand tomorrow if I had my way!!!

There is nothing wrong with redevelopement, as long as there is real care taken into how it is done, and in ensuring that the feel of the ground is unchanged for both Showjumping and Rugby Union.

I'll say it again, it is SA's time, by 2023 it will have been 28 years since the RWC was hosted in SA.

Biltong wrote:I'll say it again, it is SA's time, by 2023 it will have been 28 years since the RWC was hosted in SA.

Dont you think it needs to go to another country? You need to spread this things around and SA got to host the soccer world cup in 2010

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Biltong wrote:I'll say it again, it is SA's time, by 2023 it will have been 28 years since the RWC was hosted in SA.

Dont you think it needs to go to another country? You need to spread this things around and SA got to host the soccer world cup in 2010

The one doesn't depict where the other one should go in my opinion.

We have only had 1 hosting of the world cup, OZ has had 2, NZ has had 2, Europe in various combinations have hosted 4, with another one coming up and Japan has one.

We are smack dab in the best time slot, one of the biggest rubgy countries (support wise).

I want it.

mystiroakey wrote:It certainly isnt german money keeping them a float..

It is manly british loans at very low interest rates(under what there credit rating suggests) and europoean wide bail out funds.

It is mainly German money, Britain's loan to Ireland is believed to be somewhere between 5 and 7 billion, a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of billions coming from Europe, most of which is coming from Germany.