Australia drops bid to host rugby World Cup

The Australian Rugby Union has officially withdrawn from the bidding process for the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.

ARU boss John O'Neill said his organisation could not accept the risk of committing to the guarantees - £80m (€90.2m) for 2015 and £96m (€108.2m) for 2019 - set down by Rugby World Cup Ltd.

In addition, the host nation would be required to bear all the tournament costs.

"The ARU is extremely disappointed but the risk associated with underwriting guarantees for tournaments six and 10 years into the future would not be in the best interests of Australian rugby," the ARU said in a statement.

The closing date for tenders is Friday, with the host nations for both tournaments to be announced in July.