Key 2019 RWC venue in doubt

There's a good chance the 2019 RWC final - and other keynote games - will not be held in Tokyo.

When Japan was awarded the cup in 2009, the original plan was to hold the final in the National Stadium, which was originally built for the 1964 Olympics, and is in the centre of city

However, Tokyo also planned to bid for the Olympics (originally, they were looking at 2016), and part of their Olympic bid for 2020 was a new national stadium. When Tokyo won the 2020 bid, preparations for the new venue began. The idea was that it would be ready for the 2019 RWC

Tokyo chose a bold design by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, which was not universally popular, but has become a national scandal as new cost estimates suggest it will be the most expensive Olympic Stadium ever built - something like £1-1.5 billion depending on the moving target numbers you look at.

The need to have the stadium ready for 2019 meant that the government had little wriggle room on planning but now it seems the clamour for a review has become so loud that the Prime Minister will order a rethink, and abandon any thought of building it in time for the RWC.

The old National Stadium was demolished in May, so it is no longer an option. To be honest, it wasn't really fit for purpose. I saw the Bledisloe Match there and the logistics were poor, although I'm sure the playing conditions were fine.

Most likely, the final will be moved to Yokohama, which is where the 2002 Football World Cup Final was held. It's not too far from Tokyo, and transport links are good. However, Yokohama did not originally bid to become a RWC venue, so there may be some haggling to do.

This does mean, however, that Tokyo is in danger of hosting no RWC matches at all, since no other venues in the city were nominated, and the only one dedicated to rugby is too small for any important matches.

More detail here:

http://news.yahoo.com/japanese-officials-suggest-revising-olympic-stadium-plan-135057497--spt.html

Rugby Fan wrote:
This does mean, however, that Tokyo is in danger of hosting no RWC matches at all, since no other venues in the city were nominated, and the only one dedicated to rugby is too small for any important matches.

Quite a refreshing change from the London hosted 2015 RWC.

How?

TG wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:
This does mean, however, that Tokyo is in danger of hosting no RWC matches at all, since no other venues in the city were nominated, and the only one dedicated to rugby is too small for any important matches.

Quite a refreshing change from the London hosted 2015 RWC.

Dammit    so the games im watching in Newcastle...are actually in London??

GeordieFalcon wrote:

TG wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:
This does mean, however, that Tokyo is in danger of hosting no RWC matches at all, since no other venues in the city were nominated, and the only one dedicated to rugby is too small for any important matches.

Quite a refreshing change from the London hosted 2015 RWC.

Dammit    so the games im watching in Newcastle...are actually in London??

Don't you agree though the we are too London centric - all but one of the knock-out games are in London.

The only shame is it's partly in Wales.

Yes & No. Yes it would be nice to spread the games about but no because supporters ( esp overseas) can plan to come knowing the chances are the games will be in London, & if their team happens to be the one out of London it is'nt too bad for a day trip or overnighter

broadlandboy wrote:Yes & No. Yes it would be nice to spread the games about but no because supporters ( esp overseas) can plan to come knowing the chances are the games will be in London, & if their team happens to be the one out of London it is'nt too bad for a day trip or overnighter

Sounds like an argument for having the whole thing in London.

It needs to be a country wide thing absolutely but there's also the balance to get the maximum number of people there at the games both for gate receipts and the spectacle for tv. Given the football will have started would the big stadia elsewhere have been definitely available?

TG No the pool stages are long enough & set so someone planning knows what is happening. With the knockout stages they are unkown by having them in London supporters can plan on being in London rather than having to plan different areas

@Broadlandboy - having them all in London probably suits the usual 6N crowd of supporters since they know the routine so to speak. I'm sure it'll be all nice and familiar for them.

But it's hardly taking the game across the country is it? Group stages apart, and even there the bias is heavily south. Secondly, once the draw for the knock-outs is known it's not much to plan. It's part of the fun of being at a tournament.

Back to the OP. More developments:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/70340805/world-rugby-olympic-worry-as-tokyo-stadium-scrapped-for-world-cup-and-games

Qatar seems the obvious relocation.

Sounds as if Old Trafford was destined for a knockout before pulling out, Man City replaced them but couldnt cover them all because of footy.

2 Billion Dollars was far too ambitious a target price for a rugby stadium anyway.  We were getting a little pompous about ourselves there.  Downright grotesque actually!

On a serious side note...yet again, we see that the Oldlympics are just another cover story for more corporate greed.  The Print-Money Games.  "Why do we have to pay ten times the going price for the toilet cubicle ten miles away from the Stadium?"  "Well it's the Olympics, innit.  Just cough up the money...and it's now twenty times the going price since we started this chat anyway".

Leading international try scorer Daisuke Ohata sees a silver lining. He's quoted in the press saying "At least more people in Japan now know we'll be hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2019".

Gwlad wrote:Qatar seems the obvious relocation.

I thought they were going to host matches in MS. Isn't that why the WRU supported the Japanese bid?????

One of the reasons it becomes important whether Tokyo hosts any matches, is because Tokyo is scheduled to contribute something like £3-4 million to cover hosting costs. If Tokyo has no games, then that money won't be paid.

There is talk of shoving the Ajinomoto Stadium into the list of venues, just to ensure Tokyo has some representation, but it's smaller than the minimum capacity, and so there could be lower revenue from ticket sales. As it stands, the RWC will already miss out on sales because no venue holds the 80,000 of the now-cancelled National Stadium.

Whichever way you slice it, the 2019 Cup will be off £2-3 in revenue from original estimates.