Crucial mission to make game global ramps up as USA get to host party
WORLD Rugby has stealthily moved from an organisation in which self-interest thrived to one which is now far more able to govern for the good of the global game.
It had long been known that England, Australia and the United States would host the three women's World Cups from 2025 and that the latter two would stage the next two men's tournaments after France next year, but it was the way the decisions were made that showed how much has changed.
It starkly contrasted with the process for the 2007 World Cup. England and France both submitted stand-alone bids with the RFU confident it had the stronger commercial proposal. The French responded by offering matches to the other home unions and won the vote through horse-trading.
It was how it was done at a time when the game was effectively run by the tier one nations but the rise in the women's game to the point where England are talking about selling out Twickenham for the 2025 final together with the ambition of second and third tier nations, which the current fixture schedule does not meet, has made the administration more open and representative.
“We have to make the international programme more meaningful so the next group of nations get the competition they need and deserve,” said Alan Gilpin, World Rugby's chief executive. “It is a massive focus for us.
“It is about driving investment to ensure we deliver a global game. That is why we announced the venues for several World Cups at once. It provides certainty for the next 10 years plus and shows World Rugby is taking a more direct role in delivering tournaments and implementing last year's strategic plan to grow the sport.”
Central to World Rugby's thinking is a global season which would reduce the overlap between Test and club rugby and better align the hemispheres. It wants to establish a global championship which would be played every two years and involve 24 nations, the number it hopes will take part in future men's World Cups from as early as 2027.
“There is better recognition across the whole landscape that it needs to happen for the game to grow,” said Gilpin. “A global championship would raise the standards of emerging nations and make the World Cup more competitive.”
It is a reason why World Rugby was so keen for the United States, the world's biggest sporting market, to host the 2031 men's World Cup and the women's event two years later, following on from the successful 2019 tournament in Japan which exposed the sport to a new audience which enthusiastically embraced it.
“We spent a lot of time with the United States building this,” said Gilpin.
“We were able to take confidence from what we achieved in Japan. The two biggest growth opportunities for us are the United States and the women's game. We have brought them together and now it is about mobilising.”
Australia became the first country to win the World Cup for a second time, at France's expense in 1999, and in 2027 they will become the first nation to host the men's RWC for a third occasion. South Africa, who have staged the tournament only once, in 1995, could have claimed it was their time, all themore so after losing out to France for next year's event, but the days of taking turns have gone the way of the four-point try.
“Australia is massively important for the Asian market,” said Gilpin. The Pacific islands are not far away while South Africa is largely isolated and the continent of Africa does not offer anywhere near the commercial opportunities of North America and Asia.”
What price New Zealand, the inaugural hosts in 1987 who staged it again in 2011, making it three? “We would have to be very innovative to get another,” said NZR's chief executive, Mark Robinson.
“If you look at the government support in Australia, the size of the stadia and World Rugby's drive for revenue to reinvest in the world game, it will be really challenging for us.
France will generate a lot of money and we all know the massive commercial grunt behind sport in the United States.”
The two World Cups will be a financial life-saver for Australia, who host the Lions in 2025. “There has been negativity around our game for a while but this is the day it stops,” said the former Wallabies' captain Phil Kearns, who was part of the bidding team. “It is upwards now. What is critical for us is helping the South Pacific teams and the women's game grow.”
The United States president Joe Biden gave his backing to his country's bid, but the sport's footprint across the country is barely perceptible. Changing that will mean giving the USA greater access to tier one opponents, which was the case with Japan in the years leading up to 2019, and increasing participation levels at schools and colleges.
“We have a 10-year runway,” said Ross Young, USA Rugby's chief executive and a former general manager of Harlequins.
“We know it will be a huge job to raise the profile here and we want to give young boys and girls a taste of what the game is about.
“We have to set the right targets and make sure they are achievable. We have 28 venues with a capacity of more than 60,000 and the 48 matches will be spread around the country. We need more meaningful games and with our best players scattered across the world, how do we get them back here? It is all about realising the potential we know is there.”
