Sports

England keen on 2031 Rugby World Cup bid – RFU chief

England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) has set its sights on hosting the 2031 World Cup, chairman Tom Ilube said Tuesday.

England last staged the global showpiece event in 2015 when their team under coach Stuart Lancaster went out of the tournament at the group stage.

“We would like to bid for that — the 2031 World Cup,” Ilube told British media. “That would be really exciting to have it here and you could imagine what it would be like and I think that really gives us a focus as well.

“So we will see what happens, it will be interesting. It is something that we are really interested in discussing and engaging with the process.”

Japan hosted the last Rugby World Cup in 2019 and France is set to stage the next edition of the tournament, first held in 1987, in 2023.