French Rugby Federation (FFR) President Bernard Laporte dismissed the evaluation report that recommended South Africa ahead of France and Ireland as host for the 2023 Rugby World Cup as "nonsense," full of "blatant errors" and a result of "incompetence," according to Julien Pretot of REUTERS. World Rugby's board on Tuesday recommended that South Africa host the event, placing France in second place and Ireland in third. Laporte: "We wrote to (World Rugby Chair) Bill Beaumont to point out several blatant errors. I don't believe in bad faith. I rather think that it's incompetence." Laporte also said that the evaluation was "carried out mostly by World Rugby employees" and "not by two auditing firms as it was supposed to be." He said, "We are not happy about that." Laporte was "also frustrated" that France was criticized for its anti-doping policies. He said, "That's laughable. We're less well marked because we're too tough on doping" (REUTERS, 11/4).
LASHING OUT: In London, Peter O'Reilly reported following a "verbal attack" from Laporte, FFR "is believed to have delivered its own 50-page report" to the World Rugby offices in Dublin, in which it highlights "anomalies, inconsistencies and plain errors" by World Rugby's Technical Review Group. Ireland 2023 "was actually first out of the blocks in expressing its dismay" at elements of the review document, "not merely that aspects of the Irish bid had been misrepresented" but also that "huge shortcomings in the South African bid had been glossed over." On Wednesday, the Ireland Bid Oversight Board "fired off a letter" to all members of the WR Council, who will make a vote to decide the host country on Nov. 15 in London. In the letter, Board Chair Dick Spring said that he is "shocked by the narrow, operational and theoretical approach adopted in the final report" (SUNDAY TIMES, 11/5).
'ROBUST' PROCESS: REUTERS' Shrivathsa Sridhar reported World Rugby dismissed French complaints about the 2023 World Cup evaluation process as "unfounded and inaccurate" and said that its board "followed a transparent process in recommending South Africa." World Rugby said in a statement, "World Rugby has implemented a transparent, objective, professional and robust host selection process. While disappointment and high-emotion following the announcement of a recommendation is understandable, such comments are both unfounded and inaccurate" (REUTERS, 11/4).
