Japan Rugby Football Union - Rugby World Cup 2011 Bid

Rugby World Cup 2011 Bid

With Japan's advantages of a superb infrastructure (stadiums, accommodation and transportation) and the experience of co-staging the Football (soccer) World Cup 2002 with Korea, the JRFU bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

The bid's catchphrase or slogan was "Making Rugby a Truly Global Sport". So far the Rugby World Cup has never been held outside the traditional rugby strongholds of the Northern and Southern hemisphere (the countries involved in the Six Nations and Tri-Nations tournaments). In that sense, the slogan was a justified attempt to grow the game worldwide, and make it a global sport.

The JRFU gave the following reasons for holding the Rugby World Cup in Japan at a press conference held on September 22, 2004:

1. Rugby was introduced in Japan in 1899, and has a proud history, culture and tradition developed over the past 105 years. Japan is the leading Asian rugby country, and the focal point of rugby in the region.

2. Japan is the only Union in Asia that has participated in the last five Rugby World Cups.

3. Japan has the 4th largest number of registered rugby union players in the world (125,508), behind only England, South Africa and France.

4. Japan offers significant commercial opportunities through established relationships with major corporations based in Japan, including those involved in Top League.

5. Japan has a proud record of international sporting success, highlighted most recently by its outstanding achievement at the 2004 Olympic Games that surpassed all expectations.

6. Japan has the state of the art stadiums, infrastructure, systems, and know-how required for a major sporting event such as Rugby World Cup already largely in place, following its successful hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

7. The Government of Japan supports the growth of the game and endorses Japan’s bid to host Rugby World Cup 2011. Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who played rugby for many years, is a keen advocate and active supporter of the bid, and a key figure in obtaining political support exercising significant influence.

8. Japan’s hosting of the World Cup would fulfill the IRB’s goal of making rugby a truly global sport. It would increase competition and serve to narrow the existing divide between the Top Tier Nations and the Second Tier Nations for the good of the game in the long term.

However, New Zealand won the hosting rights in 2011 in a process which was later much criticised for lack of transparency as at the last minute the voting was made secret thanks to an Irish RU proposal. Reasons for JRFU not getting the cup were that the Union had never hosted a major rugby tournament before. As well as that, support for rugby in Japan was considered relatively poor, with many foreign players based in Japan commenting on the Top League's low crowd numbers. The biggest factor in preventing Japan winning the bid was believed to be it leaving important bid details until its final presentation in Dublin. Many delegates had been instructed for whom to vote prior to the final bid presentations.