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The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth Rugby World Cup, taking place in the year of the 200th anniversary of the legendary 'invention' of the sport by William Webb Ellis.
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Hosting
Several countries have declared their interest in hosting the 2023 Rugby World Cup, both countries that have already hosted RWC matches, and countries looking to host a tournament for the first time. World Rugby may select the hosts for the 2023 and 2027 at the same time (as they did with the 2015 and 2019 tournaments). The bidding schedule is as follows:
The bidding process formally kicked off on 14 May 2015. World Rugby held a meeting with five potential Rugby World Cup 2023 hosts on 6 May 2015 in London that was attended by representatives from Ireland, Italy, South Africa, France and the USA. Apart from the USA, the countries attending had all previously publicly announced their interest to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
On 3 July 2015 World Rugby confirmed interest from the following four nations by the deadline of 15 June 2015:
Confirmed bidders
After hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, World Rugby may look to host the tournament in the sports' 'heartlands', leaving South Africa and Ireland as favourites.
South Africa
South Africa is considered one of the frontrunners to host the 2023 competition, having hosted the 1995 tournament and bid unsuccessfully for the right to host the 2011, 2015, and 2019 tournaments.
In April 2016 the South African government banned its own rugby union from bidding to stage the 2023 World Cup over its failure to provide enough opportunities for black players. SA Rugby started seeking urgent talks with sports minister Fikile Mbalula in an effort to get its ban lifted in time for it to bid for the Rugby World Cup 2023. Jurie Roux, the chief executive of SA Rugby stated “There is no question that we have more work to do and we could be moving faster, but our sport has undergone a major overhaul in the past two or three years and we have definitely made great progress.” Confidence was high on getting the suspension lifted in time to lodge a World Cup bid.
Ireland
The Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, together with the Irish Rugby Football Union, formally announced on 5 December 2014 their intentions to launch a bid to host the event. Dick Spring, former Deputy Prime Minister and Ireland rugby player, and Chair of Ireland's Rugby World Cup 2023 bid, stated in May 2015 that Ireland already had received pledges of support from 40% of World Rugby's board's 27 votes. Ireland's bid will include both rugby and Gaelic games grounds. The 82,000 capacity GAA stadium Croke Park would host the final, while other newly redeveloped GAA stadia such as Casement Park, Fitzgerald Stadium, MacHale Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh would be part of the bid.
On 15 November 2016, 12 stadia were announced as being part of the bid. The provisional list includes Ireland's home stadium, the Aviva Stadium, the home grounds of Leinster, Munster and Ulster, and eight GAA grounds, with two of these from each province. Some sites, such as Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Casement Park, are currently undergoing renovations or expansions. Their planned capacities, as listed on the IRFU's website, are provided. Ireland feel that having the third largest stadium in Europe (Croke Park) gives them a great advantage.
France
France, which hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, has expressed interest in hosting the 2023 tournament. France launched its bid on 9 February 2017 revealing 19 potential host cities and an environmentally friendly transport plan.:
Italy
The Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) confirmed in March 2015 its intention to bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Italy lost to England by just three votes on the right to host the 2015 tournament. On 12 August 2016, the Italian Rugby Federation announced the 12 stadiums they expressed interest in using for the 2023 event.
However, on September 28, 2016, Italy officially withdrew from the competition to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Declined to bid
Two countries – the United States and Argentina – initially expressed interest in hosting the 2023 tournament, but ultimately declined to bid.
The United States was anticipated to bid to host the 2023 and/or 2027 Rugby World Cup. It was considered to be a possible contender to win the right to host the 2023 or 2027 Rugby World Cup. World Rugby CEO Mike Miller stated in 2010 that the United States would host a Rugby World Cup, stating that "it's a question of when, not if."
Argentina had also expressed interest, with Argentina's World Rugby Council representative Agustín Pichot stating that he wanted to bring the tournament to Argentina in 2023. In May 2016, following a meeting with Agustín Pichot, Argentine President Mauricio Macri announced government support for a 2027 Rugby World Cup bid.
Teams
The Rugby World Cup may expand from its current 20 teams for the 2023 tournament.