USA Rugby officials say they will refocus their bid plans on the 2031 men’s World Cup and 2033 Women’s World Cup after a three-day summit with World Rugby leaders.
Meetings in Denver included World Rugby chief executive officer Alan Gilpin discussing budgets and development ideas with U.S. rugby and its World Cup bid committee leaders, with plans for a business partnership to stage the rematch events on U.S. soil.
The U.S. government body of leaders unveiled bidding plans for the Rugby World Cup in November to attend either the 2027 or 2031 men’s events and the 2029 women’s tournament.
A US offer released on Friday said that World Rugby is “in full support of exploring a” restructured hosting model “with a” partnership business approach “between host nations and World Rugby, away from the rights award model so that the host nation, the Union and World Rugby can “maximize strategic results”.
“USA are absolutely ready to host exceptional Rugby World Cups and the productive meetings this week have strengthened that belief,” Gilpin said. “The redesigned hosting strategy allows us to count for the first time nations that are central to Rugby’s global growth goals and the United States are at the heart of that goal.
“If we want to be globally relevant and strong as a sport, we have to look to the United States.”
The timeline, which provides about a decade for staging U.S. events and the progress of rugby in America, would help the project, as well as push for a strong women’s tournament.
“We are excited about the confirmation of the US candidacy for a women’s event in 2033, which will allow us to develop a long-term hosting and growth plan in collaboration with USA Rugby and other players who will help the nation and North America reach their rugby potential. to realize in every sense what in turn is great for everyone in the game.
Part of the meeting was held at the home stadium of the NFL’s Denver Broncos, a 75,000-seat venue in a U.S. rugby hotbed that is a candidate to host World Cup matches at the U.S. level.
Jim Brown, chairman of the USA Rugby Offer Committee, called the meetings “extremely constructive” in order to produce two successful World Cups.
“After a series of assessments and discussion with USA Rugby, we believe that a hosting model of men’s and women’s events in 2031 and 2033 is better positioned to set US development goals and fulfill our promise of a catalyst for rugby growth in the United States deliver. States, “Brown said.
USA Rugby chief executive Ross Young added that there was confidence in the revised hosting timeline. “We are very encouraged by the collective consideration we continue to see from USA rugby players, the bidding committee, candidate cities, government officials and of course World Rugby,” said Young.
“Our goal from the beginning was Due Diligence, and we are confident that the concept in place will be a real vehicle for growth.”
A total of 28 U.S. cities have expressed interest in hosting World Cup games, with venues including NFL venues in Miami, San Francisco and New England.
US places hosted test matches with top foreign clubs, including Ireland’s 2016 victory over New Zealand at Chicago’s Soldier Field, and San Francisco hosted the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The U.S. national team hosted New Zealand last November and managed their first attempt against the All Blacks in a 104-14 loss at home to the NFL Washington Commanders.
© Agence France-Presse
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