pinky wrote:

sea_point wrote: RWC2015 has Twickenham, Wemberlee and West Ham's new ground all 60k+ in one city, so Former & Lansdowne Rd won't be an issue would have thought...?

Big diff in populations between the respective capitals though.
That said, I suppose they are hosting two QFs in Cardiff the same weekend this year so evidently the ability or otherwise of the city to accommodate the fans isn't a major consideration.
I suppose my point was not so much that there are two many big stadiums in Dublin, but that there are too few outside Dublin.
RWC2015 didn't deliver on it's initial promise of having Old Trafford, Anfield, etc. in the mix but they do have James Park, Eastlands, Millennium, all bigger than the new Pairc Ui Chaoimh but all-seater.

Population not the issue, it's accommodation that is the key. Dublin has loads of options....

The main issue for visitors will be public transportation, especially as many visitors will likely be looking to enjoy our renowned Pub scene.

I can't see Galway not getting a couple of games due to proximity to Shannon/Knock & Dublin and also being on a mainline rail route as well as extensive coach services, on top of accommodation capacity.,

sea_point wrote: RWC2015 has Twickenham, Wemberlee and West Ham's new ground all 60k+ in one city, so Former & Lansdowne Rd won't be an issue would have thought...?

Big diff in populations between the respective capitals though.
That said, I suppose they are hosting two QFs in Cardiff the same weekend this year so evidently the ability or otherwise of the city to accommodate the fans isn't a major consideration.
I suppose my point was not so much that there are two many big stadiums in Dublin, but that there are too few outside Dublin.
RWC2015 didn't deliver on it's initial promise of having Old Trafford, Anfield, etc. in the mix but they do have James Park, Eastlands, Millennium, all bigger than the new Pairc Ui Chaoimh but all-seater.

pinky wrote:

RonanL wrote: Shouldn't the fact that we've never held it on our own help our cause? I know it's been a while, but South Africa have had it. It's like we tell the kids "take your turn".

You'd like to think so, but Italy have never even hosted a match, not even in 2007 when it was pretty close by, so they have a better claim to it being their turn. They also have better stadiums well spread out and more hotels, etc. Of course whether they get access to all the football stadiums is another matter entirely.
A lot depends on the quality of the bids, they have a while to get it together but so far the Irish bid hasn't been inspiring me with confidence. The GAA claim to be fully behind it, then they agree to open only a defined list of stadiums, including some that have no business being there and leaving out some that might make sense. You also have the fairly significant problem that the two big stadiums are in the same city.
The new Casement Park and Pairc Ui Chaoimh will help as long as they don't mind that the latter will be mostly terrace. It's not impossible by any means and I hope they pull it off, but they'll be up against it.
I wonder is there still scope for co-hosting with the Italians.

RWC2015 has Twickenham, Wemberlee and West Ham's new ground all 60k+ in one city, so Former & Lansdowne Rd won't be an issue would have thought...?

RonanL wrote: Shouldn't the fact that we've never held it on our own help our cause? I know it's been a while, but South Africa have had it. It's like we tell the kids "take your turn".

You'd like to think so, but Italy have never even hosted a match, not even in 2007 when it was pretty close by, so they have a better claim to it being their turn. They also have better stadiums well spread out and more hotels, etc. Of course whether they get access to all the football stadiums is another matter entirely.
A lot depends on the quality of the bids, they have a while to get it together but so far the Irish bid hasn't been inspiring me with confidence. The GAA claim to be fully behind it, then they agree to open only a defined list of stadiums, including some that have no business being there and leaving out some that might make sense. You also have the fairly significant problem that the two big stadiums are in the same city.
The new Casement Park and Pairc Ui Chaoimh will help as long as they don't mind that the latter will be mostly terrace. It's not impossible by any means and I hope they pull it off, but they'll be up against it.
I wonder is there still scope for co-hosting with the Italians.

Shouldn't the fact that we've never held it on our own help our cause? I know it's been a while, but South Africa have had it. It's like we tell the kids "take your turn".

connemara man wrote: Isn't Japan a SH team for practical reasons?

I would have said so pretty much.
Any globe will tell you they are on the top half of it, but they play in the Pacific Nations Cup, etc. so I would always have regarded them as closer to the SH teams.
Really I think they fall outside of the traditional NH/SH divide, along with US/Canada.
I would think that WR would be reluctant to have the RWC outside of Europe twice in a row. There's also the issue that there are so many Europeans on the governing council or whatever it's called (I think it's 13 out of 28). Not sure how much an influence that has on their voting.
SA is in more or less the same timezone as Europe though so doesn't hurt TV revenue as much as NZ/Japan.
My guess would be Italy, but could go any way really.

Isn't Japan a SH team for practical reasons?

My bet is on SA for 2023.
Northern Hemisphere will have had hosted the competition on the 2 immediate occasions 2015 ((England) and 2019 (Japan) so can't see it getting a 3rd in a row.
SA have also been unsuccessful bidders for the last 3 (2019, 2015, and 2011) and are the only Southern hemisphere country bidding for 2023.
The Lions going there in 2021 won't have any impact.

Would be 2021 for South Africa, every 4 years for the tours. In NZ in 2017. Read online that the current contract between the Lions and the SANZAR nations (SA, Aus and NZ) is up after the next tour. So who knows what future tours beyond that will be like.

True, but as someone mentioned.

The Lions will be in SA 2022. Would be strange to have RWC 2023 year after in same location.

Tough call there but I've got to think Ireland is a long shot. With it in England this year they may be reluctant to award it to a fellow home nation and with it in Japan in 2019 there's no need to consider a 2nd tier country like Italy. France held it most recently of the other two so absent a FIFA like pay off I'd bet on South Africa since it will be nearly 30 years by that time since they last hosted it.

Deadline over.

Ireland, France, Italy, South Africa confirmed to be bidding.

The issue is not only stadium size. But also, hotel rooms availible.

Hence why Killarney being mentioned. Plenty of hotel space. Kilkenny, not too sure about. Tullamore, doubt much rooms

mary hinge wrote: Stadia likely to be on the list as follows:
Dublin: Croke Park and Lansdowne Road.
Belfast: are they going ahead with the new joint GAA/IRFU/IFA stadium or not? If not Casement Park and/or Ravenhill.
Cork: Pairc ui Caoimh.
Limerick: Gaelic Grounds and Thomond.
Galway: Pearse Stadium.
Kilkenny: Nowlan Park.
Tullamore: O'Connor Park.
with other possibilities being Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney, Clones, and possibly something in Derry?

(Belfast joint stadium has been a dead duck for years, hence Ravenhill being rebuilt and Windsor Park and Casement in the offing).

Times gives the following stadiums as "dead certs":

The main stadium: Croke Park (already open to foreign sports).

The 4 rugby stadiums: Lansdowne, the RDS (!), Thomond, Ravenhill.

The 6 stadiums voted in GAA congress to be made available:

Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Casement Park, Semple Stadium, the Gaelic Grounds, Pearse Stadium and McHale Park.

This meets the minimum number of stadiums required (11).

There has been lots of mention in the media about Killarney, and a little about Kilkenny. Not a whisper about Tullamore. If other venues are added the obvious geographical gaps are Derry and the South-East.

I'd like the redeveloped Sportsground in here. IRFU has to back Connacht Rugby up

Stadia likely to be on the list as follows:
Dublin: Croke Park and Lansdowne Road.
Belfast: are they going ahead with the new joint GAA/IRFU/IFA stadium or not? If not Casement Park and/or Ravenhill.
Cork: Pairc ui Caoimh.
Limerick: Gaelic Grounds and Thomond.
Galway: Pearse Stadium.
Kilkenny: Nowlan Park.
Tullamore: O'Connor Park.
with other possibilities being Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney, Clones, and possibly something in Derry?