Ireland join record number of applicants bidding to stage World Cup

IRELAND is among the record number of countries who have confirmed their intention for the right to host the Rugby World Cup either in 2015 or 2019.

The 2011 tournament will be held in New Zealand and traditionally, the next tournament would normally revert back to the northern hemisphere.

But the failure of Japan to win the rights for the 2011 competition, after controversially losing the vote to New Zealand, is expected to make the Japanese more determined than ever to host one of the world’s biggest sporting occasions next time around.