Coming to a ground near you, the 2023 World Cup
• SA only needs to secure the official vote on November 15 — with at least 20 of the 39 votes — to host the international rugby event
In the sweltering heat of a stuffy conference room at Parliament, Sport and Recreation Minister Thulas Nxesi, SA Rugby president Mark Alexander and CE Jurie Roux looked more relieved than elated that SA was chosen as the preferred candidate to host Rugby World Cup 2023.
There is still one more hurdle to clear — the official vote on November 15 — and although it should be a formality, there was an air of caution after SA’s bid was deemed the best submitted to host Rugby World Cup 2023.”
In theory, South Africans should start celebrating but even though everything has been done to ensure voting is transparent and untainted, SA sill needs at least 20 of the 39 World Rugby Council votes to ratify the evaluation committee’s recommendation. World Rugby, by embarking on a transparent bidding process, has all but ensured that when its members’ council votes in a little more than two weeks, SA’s bid will be ratified.
One of the major reasons why SA submitted a bid for the fourth consecutive time was that the bidding criteria was changed to eliminate the threat of horse trading when votes are cast.
“This was a rigorous and objective process which we have supported from day one and we thank World Rugby for instituting a process that took lobbying out of the equation and professionally identified which host would deliver the best tournament for players, fans and the game,” Roux said.
“We trust now that the World Rugby Council will follow through by voting to confirm what the experts have identified: that a South African Rugby World Cup in 2023 is the best result for rugby.”
Ireland, though, have vowed to continue the fight until voting day, although it is unclear what more it can do to change the outcome. “There is nothing in the report which is insurmountable and this is certainly not the end of the road,” Ireland bid chairman Dick Spring said.
“We absolutely believe Ireland can secure the tournament for 2023. It is also clear from the report that Ireland has all the capabilities to host an outstanding Rugby World Cup in 2023.”
Alexander believes that the council will do the right thing by simply rubber-stamping an independent recommendation that cost World Rugby more than R8m to produce.
“What is the point if the council doesn’t vote according to the outcome? Then we are no further along than we were years ago and all that money spent on this evaluation would have been a waste,” Alexander said.
Nxesi said celebrations would have to wait until it was official that SA was the host.
“We have to celebrate this first step and it’s a great and historic day for the nation, for sport and for rugby, but remember, we have not actually won the bid yet,” Nxesi said.
Bill Beaumont, the World Rugby chairman said: “This is the first Rugby World Cup host selection to take place following a complete redesign of the bidding process to promote greater transparency and maximise World Rugby’s hosting objectives. The comprehensive and independently scrutinised evaluation reaffirmed that we have three exceptional bids, but it also identified SA as a clear leader based on performance against the key criteria.”