World Rugby is "expected to scrap the formal recommendation stage from the next World Cup bidding process" after the game's governing body was "left embarrassed when France won the vote to host the tournament" in '23, according to Alex Lowe of the LONDON TIMES. A "detailed evaluation" of the three candidate nations concluded that South Africa's overall bid was "stronger than those tabled by France and Ireland." The Rugby World Cup Ltd. board unanimously endorsed South Africa as host but the World Rugby Council "ignored that proposal." The whole process will "come under review" but World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper admitted that he would be "very surprised" if a recommendation was made in the future. It also emerged that neither World Rugby Chair Bill Beaumont nor World Rugby Vice Chair Agustín Pichot were "happy with the recommendation process" when they were elected, but it was "too late to change the system." Gosper said, "The hardest part of the review and the most contentious was providing a recommendation." World Rugby would still undertake a detailed evaluation but "stop short of endorsing one bid over the rest." The two-week gap between the publication of the report and the vote allowed France to "work feverishly" to persuade World Rugby Council members to reject the recommendation. Gosper said that there was "no evidence that France had struck deals with other unions but the length of the window will be looked at, as will the use of a secret ballot in the final poll." When France hosted the 2007 World Cup, it agreed to stage some games in Scotland and Wales, but Gosper confirmed that every game of the '23 tournament will be played in France (LONDON TIMES, 12/1). In London, Gavin Mairs reported the "triumph of France's financial clout has raised doubts about the possibility that smaller countries such as Ireland will ever be able to host" future tournaments, but Gosper insisted "the door remained open." He said, "My view is that Ireland proved a small country can actually host a World Cup. Look at the financials they provided for a country of five million people. They were highly competitive" (TELEGRAPH, 11/30).
TWICKENHAM TWEAKS: Mairs also reported Rugby Football Union CEO Stephen Brown will implement a number of changes to the matchday experience at Twickenham after admitting he "got lost trying to find his seat when he went undercover as an anonymous supporter" during England's victory over Samoa on Nov. 25. Brown has "already compiled an eight-page report on his experience." The "most urgent improvement," according to Brown, will be to upgrade the signage from railway stations and around the stadium after admitting "even he struggled to find his way to his end-of-row seat in the East Stand." Ticket prices will also "come under review." Brown's observations included the "need to improve the queuing systems for food and drink stalls and to make a greater spectacle of the arrival of the team buses to the stadium" (TELEGRAPH, 12/1).
