Don't think there's any rationale for 4 Provinces = 4 Pools or any logic that there could be only one stadium used in Dublin. Teams can travel all over the country between matches without any trouble. In RWC'15 Ireland are playing two games in London - neither of them at Twickenham (playing in Wembley & Olympic Stadium). Also, at least two stadia in that tournament - Kingsholm and Sandy Park - are not all seater.

Ireland's not very big - for example in the next Cricket World Cup, Ireland's six fixtures start in Nelson NZ, then Brisbane in Australia, then Canberra, over to Hobart in Tasmania, then NZ again, in Hamilton - and finally back to Australia, to finish in Adelaide. That's a minimum of 10,000 kms - the equivalent of 25 Cork to Belfast trips - that's if they don't get in to the second round again, of course!

connachtexile wrote: Lets renovate Dubarry Park! Get it to 20,000 and get Connacht to split games between there and the Sportsground. Maybe unfeasible but they renovated Donnybrook for gods sake.

Yes, but Donnybrook fills regularly for schools games, so much so that the pitch is completely overplayed and is like a beach every spring.

One stadium not mentioned is Shamrock Rovers ground in Tallaght. A peach of a ground, stunning surface; I've been at one rugby game there and the viewing is superb. I think they got 18k or so when Juventus and Real Madrid visited a few years ago. I would prefer that to The RDS as it spreads the game beyond D4.

Lets renovate Dubarry Park! Get it to 20,000 and get Connacht to split games between there and the Sportsground. Maybe unfeasible but they renovated Donnybrook for gods sake.

Might be an opportunity for Galway GAA to head back to Tuam Stadium and get the capacity back up to 20-25,000.

rossie wrote: My money would be on

Group a(Leinster) Croke park, Lansdowne road, RDS and Nowlan park.
Group b( Munster) thomond park, park ui caoimh and Fitzgerald stadium .
Group c( Connacht) pearse stadium, McHale park, markeviez park.
Group d( ulster) raven hill, clones, Celtic park.

I opt for nowlan park as other 3 Leinster venues are in Dublin and will be used so provincial venue also required.
Elsewhere they will be spread throughout the provinces to maximise exposure of the country.

I think your a good bit off the mark there. All the indicators from the papers suggest:

Croke Park, Aviva, RDS, Thomond, Gaelic Grounds, Semple, Fitzegearld, Pairc Ui Caoimh, Pearse/McHale, Ravenhill and Casement.

No chance the likes of Clones, Celtic Park and 4 Connacht grounds being picked on the basis of logistics and most of them being kips. I'd have my money on Pearse too based on proximity to Limerick and Dublin on the motorway. Pearse not being very accessible may count against it though. Nowlan maybe has a chance being close to Dublin.

Stadiums there that need a serious doing over are Semple, Pairc Ui Caoimh (planning already submitted) and one of Pearse/McHale. I think keeping terraces while installing cover stands on the main sides of the pitch would be the ideal scenario for most grounds. Planning may be tough in Galway though.

The Sportsground, however unlikely, could be a runner if they get the capacity up but highly unlikely. I wouldn't like a 20,000 stadium either though and end up having a situation like Parc Y Scarlets and Liberty. There was a piece in the Advertiser during the week IIRC.

Building facilities for corporate hospaility will be important. A new stadium would be a real waste, when you consider the amount we do have.

connachtexile wrote: What about a stadium in the middle of the country? Like in Athlone? Just thinking of spreading it out so all the country gets some of the joy. It's on a train line so would be easy enough for fans getting to it from Dublin/Galway for the day.

P.S Thanks for the info as a person with zero GAA knowledge the only stadiums I know are Pairc Ui Caomh cause I went to a concert there and Croke. Much appreciated.[/quote

There isn't one. The nearest of adequate size is o Connor park Tullamore.

What about a stadium in the middle of the country? Like in Athlone? Just thinking of spreading it out so all the country gets some of the joy. It's on a train line so would be easy enough for fans getting to it from Dublin/Galway for the day.

P.S Thanks for the info as a person with zero GAA knowledge the only stadiums I know are Pairc Ui Caomh cause I went to a concert there and Croke. Much appreciated.

Lol. I haven't been in new stand so can't comment.

rossie wrote: Three sides of McHale park are a kip though.

That's kind of you, I'm not that impressed with the other side.

Three sides of McHale park are a kip though. Needs serious upgrading but cheaper than building a new ground.

Clones will remain main ground for GAA in ulster as its in republic and there are favourable tax conditions as an amateur voluntary sport here AFAIK.
Reason I went for it was capacity and raven hill being the Belfast venue.

rossie wrote: My money would be on

Group a(Leinster) Croke park, Lansdowne road, RDS and Nowlan park.
Group b( Munster) thomond park, park ui caoimh and Fitzgerald stadium .
Group c( Connacht) pearse stadium, McHale park, markeviez park.
Group d( ulster) raven hill, clones, Celtic park.

I opt for nowlan park as other 3 Leinster venues are in Dublin and will be used so provincial venue also required.
Elsewhere they will be spread throughout the provinces to maximise exposure of the country.

You might be very close to the money, though up north Casement Park will be replacing clones as the GAA stadium of choice and presumably would also be used in a WC.

Learning all sorts of mad stuff about Irish stadia - who would have thought McHale Park was the second biggest all-seater stadium in the country?

My money would be on

Group a(Leinster) Croke park, Lansdowne road, RDS and Nowlan park.
Group b( Munster) thomond park, park ui caoimh and Fitzgerald stadium .
Group c( Connacht) pearse stadium, McHale park, markeviez park.
Group d( ulster) raven hill, clones, Celtic park.

I opt for nowlan park as other 3 Leinster venues are in Dublin and will be used so provincial venue also required.
Elsewhere they will be spread throughout the provinces to maximise exposure of the country.

great idea keeping the four pools in the four provinces. However whatever group got connacht would likely have only one ground to play out of. Hard to see Castlebar as a viable location, complete white elephant of a stadium aside i would imagine Castlebar would struggle with the tourist infrastructure require., Sligo hasn't even been mentioned anywhere iv'e read about this proposed bid. Sportsground not big enough at the moment, i believe that there are plans to develop the clan stand by putting seating over the terrace that is already there. Would still be a small ground for a tournament at this level. So that leaves Pearse Stadium, i remember the Irish international rules team playing there a few years ago and temporary floodlights were installed. Really added to the atmosphere on the night and parking issues aside the ground is more than capable of holding big groups games. Obviously Ireland would be kept in Dublin, bit imagine having any one of the SANZAR countries playing group games (or maybe even a QF) in Galway. On a side issue, what a shame that touring teams don't play midweek games anymore. Would be great to see one of them playing in the sports ground.

Grounds might be

Croke Pk
Lansdowne Road
PUC
Limerick Gaelic grounds
Killarney
Thomand pk
Pearse Stadium
Casement Pk
Ravenhill

After that i think it would be one of Thurles or Castlebar, with Thurles edging it due it's proximity to the Cork/Dublin railway line and motorway. Hard to see a redeveloped RDS getting the nod, a third venue in Dublin would be a bit of overkill.


Would be fantastic to see ireland land this tournament.

The smallest venue at the France World Cup was 35,000. Now that might be a bit too large, because you will get smaller teams with little travelling support due to various economic reasons and it'd be hard to fill something so large, but that gives an indication of what's expected.

The capacities in NZ were smaller, though. Having said that, the IRB expect larger crowds from world cups based in Europe compared to the one recently held in NZ, so comparison isn't one-to-one. As it is, if you take the French capacity as a benchmark then Ireland has a single rugby stadium and 7-8 GAA stadia that could fit the bill.

But you 've also got to think in terms of spreading the wealth, and you can't have two pools in the same city, so the Aviva and Croke as two figurehead stadia doesn't work, they'd have to be used by the same pool, otherwise Dublin gets overrun, the rest of the country gets scraps and the whole thing turns into a PR nightmare. So that's now 7-8 stadia that fit the bill, and ALL of them have to be hired because the IRFU doesn't own a single one. It would be laughable if a world cup was to happen at the sport to benefit the most was the one raking in the money as a landlord.

But there are some positives. Rugby World Cups traditionally have 4 pools. With four provinces and four pools the IRFU have the beginnings of a pool-per-province setup, hell they might even do away with the Pool A, B, C, D names and call each pool by the province name. That could work, but anyone thinking the Sportsground could host a RWC match is kidding themselves considering its current capacity. It wouldn't need to double, or even triple, it would have to quadruple, at a minimum.

Pearse Stadium might have had planning refused for lights, and that's a problem, but planning refused in 2013 and planning awarded for 2023...? Lots could happen in between.

connachtexile wrote: So we're going for the Rugby World Cup hosting in 2023 with our main rival being South Africa. Does anyone know how many stadiums we will need? And which one's would be most likely to host a game if we get it?

RWC 2011 New Zealand had 12 venues (13th Christchurch damaged in earthquake so not used)- Smallest had 15,000 capacity
RWC 2015 England/Wales will have 13 venues . Smallest capacity (Kingsholm) 16,500

Likely to be in October.

Other possible locations: Argentina, Australia (again), USA, Russia

Not sure if there are rules that all stadiums need to be all-seater

Shoe ins - Aviva 51,700 (all seater) , Croker 82,300 (69,500 seated), RDS (post Renovation), Thomond 26,500 (15,100 seated), Ravenhill 18,200 post renovation (?seated)

Probables: Pairc Ui Chaoimh 43,500 (19,500 seated), Limerick Gaelic Grounds 49,500 (24,000 seated), Fitzgerald Park Killarney 43.000 (9,000 seated)although wasn't included in initial list approved by at GAA congress

Possibles:
Semple stadium 53,00 (26,000 seated)
Casement Park Belfast 32,000 (8,000 seated),
Blanchflower Stadium - proposed 25,00 all seater in Belfast.
McHale Park Castlebar 42,000 all seater - largest all seater outside Dublin!
Nowlan Park Kilkenny 24,000 (19,000 seater)(Not on GAA list )
Celtic Park Derry (Not on GAA list)
? Musgrave Park

What about Galway:
Galway is considered to be an essential location due to number of hotel rooms and tourist attarctions . Pearse stadium 26,000 (8,000 seated) is on list although even Galway GAA folk say not a further penny should be spent on Pearse stadium due to location, lack of parking and lack of floodlights (planning refused).

Heart says the main games will be played between Thomond, Landsdown, Croker, with smaller games in SG, Ravenhill, Musgrave etc.

It'll probably end up being Thomond, Landsdown, Croker, RDS and other big GAA pitches. 9ish thousand ain't enough for a word cup game.