Old Trafford reportedly removed from RWC 2015 stadium list.

Link Here

That's a blow. Without starting a debate about Wales playing games there, do people think the Millennium Stadium will get more games now, due to the size of it?

After the recent England Wales match I doubt the RFU will give Wales any meaningful matches in the MS... certainly not the England match and probably not the AUS match either.

fa0019 wrote:After the recent England Wales match I doubt the RFU will give Wales any meaningful matches in the MS... certainly not the England match and probably not the AUS match either.

I don't think they will either. Don't blame them.

Risca Rev wrote:
I don't think they will either. Don't blame them.

Agree, but if due to football stadiums becoming unavailable they need to host more games there, Wales could make the extra availability contingent on them gettting their games there - even if it's all but England. The RFU have really shot themselves in the foot here, if other football teams back off they will be seriously stuffed.

Surely there must be a contract set in place so this type of thing - e.g. football clubs pulling out of hosting games doesn't happen?

One of the key arguments in the RFU's favour for the RWC bid was the ability to use football grounds. If this now falls apart then the RFU are royally screwed.

Surely they could still fall back on the English club grounds that didn't make the cut?

Seems like Man City are willing to step in from the article... would be a bit of a coup over their city rivals.

Will they still be allowed to call it the Etihad? Remember the O2 Arena had to be called the Greenwich Arena during the Olympcs.

Will certainly destroy the relationship the RFU had with Man United over Old Trafford... they will never use/trust them again.

RFU could use the Etihad going forward for any secondary matches which old trafford have traditionally taken on.... always thought countries should do this more often.

Gives people all over the nation the chance to view the team... the boks do it here and it helps to widen their appeal and fan base.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Surely they could still fall back on the English club grounds that didn't make the cut?

I think the problem is the number of tickets they have assumed they can sell to pay the £80million IRB fee for hosting... It would seem that they can't do that if they are using the smaller rugby grounds.

In my view if they couldn't cover the cost with the grounds that they know they have access to and a degree of control over, they probably shouldn't have made the bid - or should have negotiated a smaller fee/got government/regional backing (let's face it they'd need a miniscule fraction of what went on the Olympics to secure the bid, and the tournament will give a much needed economic boost). Will be interesting to see who thinks they can cover the fees in the future if the RFU struggle, if they make a serious loss it may seriously restrict who bothers trying to host in the future.

Big wrote:

Risca Rev wrote:
I don't think they will either. Don't blame them.

Agree, but if due to football stadiums becoming unavailable they need to host more games there, Wales could make the extra availability contingent on them gettting their games there - even if it's all but England. The RFU have really shot themselves in the foot here, if other football teams back off they will be seriously stuffed.

Yeah, it does strengthen the WRU's case somewhat. I am sure Roger Lewis etc will be all over this.

Would it not seem more preferential from and English point of view to have pool games in the Greater Manchester Area? Its a huge population base and really should be a target area for the RFU. They should be working very hard to secure a deal with the City of Manchester stadium owners (not sure if thats MCFC or Manchester Council).

Isn't it actually the RWC organisers that decide what games go where not the RFU?

It's RWC2015 (or something like that) which was created by the RFU and has IRB membership. So not directly controlled by the RFU but kind of part of the RFU.

HammerofThunor wrote:It's RWC2015 (or something like that) which was created by the RFU and has IRB membership. So not directly controlled by the RFU but kind of part of the RFU.

I thought it was RFU owned and staff appointed by RFU, but has to get the decisions approved by the IRB. Not sure that helps Wales though. Most teams will be resigned to playing England at home, but will be keen to avoid getting Wales at the Millenium Stadium.

Its Englands WC so they should play all their pool matches at home without argument, I take my hat off to the cheek of Roger Lewis but I doubt he would let Wales play away if it was our WC.

As to where they play any game after the pool games is dependant on where they finish in the pool.

fa0019 wrote:Seems like Man City are willing to step in from the article... would be a bit of a coup over their city rivals.

But only for 1 game!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/9970460/2015-Rugby-World-Cup-can-only-persuade-Manchester-City-to-host-one-game.html

Coleman wrote:Would it not seem more preferential from and English point of view to have pool games in the Greater Manchester Area? Its a huge population base and really should be a target area for the RFU. They should be working very hard to secure a deal with the City of Manchester stadium owners (not sure if thats MCFC or Manchester Council).

Its owned by Manchester Council but its operated by MCFC, so they get the final say.

They pay the Council a %age of any gates above the old capacity of Maine Road. They also pay the council £2M per year from the naming rights deal
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/manchester-model-shows-how-west-ham-can-be-settled-tenants-6452393.html

It was a good deal for the Council and shows how to develop a long term legacy for a stadium unlike the farce that is/was the 2012 Olympic stadium! It's my understanding that City will pay for any future expansion and have also mentioned the idea of buying the stadium from the council outright.

Just at thought, but if they want a big rugby friendly stadium, up North then why not Murrayfield? Yes, it's probably more northen than the suits at the RFU would like but it'd be great for ticket sales. Play the some (or all) of the Scotland pool games there. Big sales = more profit & I can train it down in a mere 3 hours. Everyone wins!

Does the RWC really need another 70,000 capacity stadium like Old Trafford? We don't want this to be like the league version of the "world cup" that is played in near empty stadiums apart from a handful of select games so perhaps a smaller stadium is all that is necessary

InjuredYetAgain wrote:Does the RWC really need another 70,000 capacity stadium like Old Trafford? We don't want this to be like the league version of the "world cup" that is played in near empty stadiums apart from a handful of select games so perhaps a smaller stadium is all that is necessary

Big ground in the north west of England. It would be useful for a quarter final and maybe a semi. If it was a QF I imagine it would sell out. Possible a big pool game or two.

If the RFU actually pull their fingers out and get some AI's + 6N's games up there in the North East/West then we'd have a pretty good chance of sparking a bit more interest and selling more tickets.

Not sure how many games are going to be played up North though as there's only two AI'S and two 6N's left before hand.