Bravo, France, but at what cost to rugby’s transparency and integrity?

It is worth keeping in mind on these occasions that rugby union usually strikes gold with its World Cup hosting decisions. Australia proved a runaway success in 2003 despite New Zealand’s de-selection as co-host, France staged a grand tournament four years later, an entire nation of rugby-mad Kiwis rose to the logistical challenge in 2011 and the record sums generated by England 2015 were matched only by the intense interest levels.

Japan will be next up in two years’ time, offering Asia a deserved slice of the action. And now, in 2023, it will be France once again. Plus ça change. The verdict will not go down well in South Africa or Ireland – and that is a major understatement. No one doubts France will put on a good show but at what cost to rugby’s reputation for transparency and integrity? The lure of more dosh, not for the first time, appears to have trumped all else.

It is a deeply uncomfortable outcome, too, for World Rugby’s high command, whose formal recommendation of South Africa has failed to be ratified by its own council. Over the past 48 hours in particular some of the lobbying behind the scenes has put even the Eurovision Song Contest’s partial voting patterns in the shade. The RFU, in particular, was torn between its two European allies, ultimately opting to vote for Ireland in round one and France thereafter. Clever. In the final analysis – with Ireland attracting only eight of the 39 available votes initially – the two-horse race ended with France romping away by 24 to South Africa’s 15.

Somebody had to lose – and all three bids had their merits – but what on earth was the point of the whole in-depth independent technical assessment if voters were ultimately too blinded by self interest to worry about the nitty-gritty? And where does that leave South African sporting morale, with both the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a Rugby World Cup now having been offered only to be snatched away? As Bill Beaumont, World Rugby’s chairman, put it: “It’s like a game of rugby. You have to dust yourself down, shake hands and get on with it.”

As previously stated in these pages, the emotional favourite would have been Ireland. It is hardly sour grapes to suggest it would have thrown a RWC party so riotously entertaining it would have blown the doors off almost every other sporting event ever held. Even the most teetotal of supporters ordering a lemonade in a remote County Kerry pub would have been instantly welcomed into the bosom of the rugby family. Will Ireland ever see a World Cup now?

Instead, hard-headed commercial logic has prevailed, even though Paris will host the Olympics in 2024. As is being experienced with Japan 2019, the knock-on effect for rugby in terms of advertising and sponsorship is not insignificant. There was also an element of playing safe politically. The main question mark over the South Africa bid had nothing to do with its splendid rugby grounds or the playing strength or otherwise of the host nation, but the wider outlook between now and 2023. Maybe it would all have been fine and dandy but, unlike in 1995, there is no unifying Nelson Mandela figure binding the Rainbow Nation together.

Quick Guide

Rugby World Cup hosts

Show

1987 (New Zealand)

Final: Eden Park, Auckland Winners: New Zealand 

1991 (England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France)

Final: Twickenham, London Winners: Australia

1995 (South Africa)

Final: Ellis Park, Johannesburg Winners: South Africa 

1999 (Wales)

Final: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Winners: Australia

2003 (Australia)

Final: Stadium Australia, Sydney Winners: England

2007 (France)

Final: Stade de France, Paris Winners: South Africa 

2011 (New Zealand)

Final: Eden Park, Auckland Winners: New Zealand

2015 (England)

Final: Twickenham, London Winners: New Zealand 

2019 (Japan)

Final: International Stadium, Yokohama

2023 (France)

Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/X90073

France will certainly be presented as the sensible fiscal choice, even if it appears to have been more of a triumph for Bernard Laporte’s powers of persuasion than anything else. More money for all, but at what price? The last thing World Rugby wanted was to be bracketed with Qatar, awarded the 2022 football World Cup despite numerous logistical concerns. No one is suggesting any Gallic impropriety but rugby does seem increasingly keen to follow, so to speak, in football’s slipstream.

Not everyone reckons this is wise. This week, with RWC voting machinations raging around him, the World Rugby vice-chairman, Gus Pichot, stood at a lectern in London and asked the assembled delegates: “What are we here for?” He spoke, movingly, of his love for the game and the inclusive family values of rugby. “Money, agents and TV rights don’t produce that, we produce that in our countries,” he said. “Don’t get it wrong. That’s what we are. It’s up to you guys to keep it that way. If we keep these values the game will grow and get bigger and bigger. More importantly, we’ll have great people and a better world.”

The altruistic Pichot, it is fair to say, would not rise swiftly up Fifa’s unpleasantly greasy pole. But was anyone listening? Arguably far more important than the 2023 World Cup destination, as Pichot intimated, is finding a path for the sport’s have-nots at an increasingly delicate stage in the professional game’s development.

Promote the interests of Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Georgia and the United States now and the reward will be more competitive World Cups for decades to come. Revert to the closed-shop mentality of yore and it will not greatly matter where the 2027 or 2031 World Cups are staged because the golden goose will be increasingly emaciated.

And that, ultimately, matters more than purely obsessing over how lucrative a 2023 World Cup might yet be. The strengthening of the Pacific Islands, looking at new ways to minimise the risk of concussion, preserving the health of Test rugby itself: none of it should be breezily overlooked.

Bravo, France, but rugby cannot allow naked self-interest to run rampant.