Who Will Host the 2023 #RugbyWorldCup?

It may be over 9 years away but preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup have kicked off in earnest with nations signalling their interest in hosting an event that will be bigger and more global than ever before.

So far, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have announced the launch of a taskforce to investigate the viability of a joint bid between both nations. One must remember that both nations (Northern Ireland is still a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) have just only started to experience growth after years of deep recession so could possibly be in a position to host the Cup in 9 years time - plus knowing that they'll be hosting the tournament could trigger economic growth in both nations.

The problem with their bid at the moment is the lack of stadia that will fit the criteria come 2023 - expect the criteria to be much higher than it is right now, indeed closer to the football World Cup and Olympics with the Rugby World Cup set to close the gap to those events.

Aviva Stadium in Dublin - 2023 Rugby World Cup Final venue?

The opening game, semifinals and final will probably be held at Dublin's Aviva Stadium - the redeveloped Lansdowne Park - but besides Munster's Thommond Park, there is a clear lack of modern stadia at the moment in the Emerald Isle. However, there is talk of Ulster's Ravenhill along with Windsor Park in Belfast - home of the Northern Ireland national football team - being redeveloped in the next 10 years or so.

Ravenhill in Belfast

Even so, there will need to be at least 6 more venues in the Republic to host the World Cup - and there are only 4 professional rugby teams based on the island so the construction of those venues probably won't be economically viable. Therefore, it is likely that Wales, England, Scotland and even France could host some games.

In that case, if the IRB wants just one country to host rather than spread it across other nations as in the past when the World Cup has been in Europe, the likes of Italy, Argentina or past hosts, France and Australia could be preferred.

It would be pretty cool to have Argentina or Italy host the event given that they haven't done it before - and rugby in those nations is emerging in popularity very quickly so the IRB won't need to worry about the risk of half-empty stadia as with the Rugby Sevens World Cup in Moscow last year, or a potential bid from USA/Canada.

As seen in the past, Argentinians and Italians do get behind big sporting events very well - the football World Cups in 1978 and 1990 are good examples of this - so they would be favourites for selection if the IRB wants a new host country with low risk.

La Plata has already hosted two Los Pumas v All Blacks tests - to good crowds

The only problem is whether both Argentina and Italy can host the tournament without putting financial burden on both countries. Argentina has recovered tremendously since the 1990s when massive debt resulted in the collapse of the country's currency and economy but unlike neighbours, Brazil, the government has been quite cautious in making bids for big sports events - the Copa America in 2011 was the biggest event to be hosted in Argentina for some time.

Rome's Olympic Stadium - 2023 World Cup Final venue?

Italy has only just emerged from recession that afflicted its EU neighbours although 10 years is a long time and as mentioned before, hosting the tournament could be the sort of boost the country needs especially having lost out on bids to host the football EUROs and World Cup - and it could even help the country's number one sport, football by providing incentive to clubs to redevelop their aging stadia, a fact that has left the once mighty Serie A behind the English, Spanish and German football leagues.

Milan's magnificent San Siro - Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is the official name

A Rugby World Cup Final at a redeveloped Stadio Olimpico in Rome would be fantastic with the likes of Milan's San Siro, Turin's Juventus Arena and Stadio Communale, Genoa's Giuseppe Ferraris,  and even Napoli's Sao Paolo hosting games along with redeveloped stadia in Verona, Udine and Treviso - Italian rugby's heartland.

As mentioned before, a USA/Canada bid is potentially a goer although the IRB might be hesitant on having two consecutive World Cups in brand new markets. The USA definitely has the stadia to host big events but the problem could be that the stadia are just far too big to fill for the World Cup and the tournament would be at risk of making a loss. The tournament would have to be moved to July/August in order to avoid a clash with the NFL and college football that are likely to be played at the stadia organizers would want to have World Cup games at.

MetLife Stadium - Super Bowl venue, Rugby World Cup Final venue?

The Colisseum in LA - an iconic sporting venue

A World Cup Final at a redeveloped Los Angeles Memorial Colisseum or New Jersey's Metlife Stadium which hosted this year's Super Bowl could be brilliant though!  

These are exciting times for rugby's blue-riband event!