Some of
the most iconic stadia in Britain are among those named to host the 48 matches
during the tournament, spread across 15 cities in England and Wales.
England
Rugby 2015 (ER 2015) are the organising body, and have taken into consideration
the need to sell 2.9 million tickets for the event, not only to UK-based fans,
but also to the anticipated 400,000 fans who will visit the UK for the
tournament.
The
timing of the tournament, held from 18 September to 31 October 2015, conincides
with the football season, so there is still alot of work to be done in the
meantime to ensure that the competition can go ahead with the blessing of all
the relevant authorities.
The Pool
Draw takes place in London on 3 December 2012, and once the fixture schedule is
known, ER 2015 expect to be able to name the final twelve venues in spring-time
2013.
The list
of venues selected by ER 2015 is:
 |
| Kingsholm, Gloucester |
Villa
Park, Birmingham
Brighton
Community Stadium, Brighton (Amex Stadium)
Ashton
Gate, Bristol
Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff
Coventry
Stadium, Coventry (Ricoh Arena)
Pride
Park, Derby
Kingsholm,
Gloucester
Elland Road, Leeds
Leicester
City Stadium, Leicester (King Power Stadium)
Olympic
Stadium, London
Twickenham
Stadium, London
Wembley
Stadium, London
Old
Trafford, Manchester
Stadiummk,
Milton Keynes
St James’
Park, Newcastle
St Mary’s
Stadium, Southampton
Stadium
of Light, Sunderland
 |
| Welford Road, home of Leicester Tigers Controversially removed from the original list. |
Other
grounds which had intitially been proposed, but which do not appear now,
include Anfield and The Emirates.
Only two of the venues selected
are traditional rugby grounds, and while traditionalists might argue that the
competition should only be held in rugby grounds, it is hard to argue with the
business case for taking rugby to football stadia, especially when there is a
pressing need to maximise ticket sales, with an $80 million guarantee to the
IRB to pay off.
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