British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
Ireland withdraws RWC bid
The Irish rugby authorities today announced that they were to withdraw from the race to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup. They were involved in a joint bid with Scotland, England and Wales to host the tournament and said as much in their official expression of interest in January this year.
But the IRFU today confirmed that this is no longer the case and that they have officially withdrawn from the bidding process. The main reason for this is because of the current financial situation and the global recession. Given the fact that the IRB wants significant financial guarantees from the host country for the 2015 event, the IRFU does not feel that this is viable.
They are not the only country to have expressed concern about this and there is widespread criticism on the IRB’s conditions.
While there is a great sense of disappointment on the party of the IRFU and the broader rugby watching public, it is clear that this would have been too much of a financial drain on the country.