Japan enters Rugby World Cup race for 2015/19

Japan has officially submitted a bid to host the 2015 or 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The Asian nation, which lost out to New Zealand for 2011, will compete against England, South Africa and Italy, with the winners to be announced in July.

Asia has never staged the Rugby World Cup but the bid has wide support in the region with a proposal to play some matches in Hong Kong and Singapore. Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Nobby Mashimo said: (quote) This is a special bid as it is a bid for rugby in Asia. With the support of our friends from all 26 unions in the region, and the backing of the Japanese government and business community, we believe that we can deliver a Rugby World Cup that will capture the hearts and minds of people and provide the platform to take rugby to new levels in Asia. We have no surprises up our sleeve, just our hearts on the table and a new JRFU at the helm, with the country of Japan and friends of Asia dedicated to host and to welcome the expansion of the game into a new frontier.

With the 2011 tournament being held in the southern hemisphere, England are the strong favourites to host the 2015 World Cup but Japan are the early favourites for 2019.

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