SCOTLAND is back in the running for a share of the 2015 Rugby World Cup after government ministers began moves to persuade England to abandon a solo bid for the tournament and join forces with the sport's other Home Unions.
The news of a potential joint bid was last night welcomed by Alex Salmond. A spokesman for the First Minister said: "We hope that together we can now secure the Rugby World Cup for these countries, which makes a lot more sense and is more pragmatic to the demands of a World Cup, and gives the home unions (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland] a better chance of succeeding with a bid."
The Scotsman reported last month that the RFU had taken comments from Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, as approval for their push for an England-only tournament in 2015. RFU chairman Martyn Thomas stated then that the union was considering hiring the Millennium Stadium, but that it was not interested in sharing host rights with any country.
The Prime Minister's office responded by requesting further talks and, at a meeting with the RFU this week, signalled that funding for the bid would rely on home union agreement for a cohesive bid. That has put a heavy spanner in the works for the RFU.
When England and Wales hosted previous tournaments, with help from Scotland and Ireland, there were no financial demands made of them by the International Rugby Board. Now, in the wake of a multi-million profit being turned by Australia in 2003, the successful bidder must guarantee an £80 million payment to the IRB from the 2015 event – the IRB's way of ensuring profits from the World Cup are spread globally across the sport.
No bidding union could guarantee that £80 million without government funding, and rival bidders South Africa and Italy have stolen a march on the rest by securing the backing of their governments.
The Prime Minister appeared to give the RFU his blessing last month when he told an English rugby delegation: "I believe rugby is one of the great sports and I also believe we can win the Rugby World Cup for this country in 2015. I hope that you will be able to persuade other countries that the Rugby World Cup should come here." But ministers this week made it clear to the RFU that those comments referred to bringing the tournament to the whole of Britain and Ireland, a move that would engender support.
England fear losing financially if they agree to a joint bid because it would mean handing over lucrative ticketing revenue to the other nations. However, fresh in the memory of the RFU will be the fact it lost an expensive bidding process to France for the 2007 tournament after ignoring their British neighbours, who all duly voted for the French. Votes and the required funding are at risk in a solo bid this time around.
Gordon McKie, the SRU chief executive, told The Scotsman he hopes to meet with the RFU on Calcutta Cup weekend and persuade officials of the merits of a joint bid. "We have been seeking discussions round the table with the RFU and hope to have these in the next two weeks," he said. "We are continuing to endeavour to bring about a joint-bid solution, which we believe has the potential to be the most successful and winnable bid, but time is marching on."
Bids must be tendered to the IRB inside the next two months with a decision taken on the winner, for both the 2015 and 2019 events on July 28, 2009.
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