2023: from foregone conclusion to bitter disappointment

SA RUGBY’S head honchos are concerned at how what seemed a foregone conclusion to award South Africa the 2023 Rugby World Cup was denied in London yesterday.

And although there is no likelihood SA Rugby will challenge the decision to award the event to France, it seems chief executive Jurie Roux and president Mark Alexander may seek changes in the bidding and evaluation processes.

World Rugby Council delegates voted against the recommendation of the bid evaluation committee two weeks ago that South Africa had presented the best bid.

“World Rugby ran an exhaustive and transparent process for 15 months to identify the best host nation, only for the process to go entirely opaque for the past two weeks,” Roux said.

“We have always said that we would honour both the letter and the spirit of the process but in the (later) feedback sessions I am sure we will be recommending to the World Rugby Council that the verdict of the evaluation committee become binding.”

Alexander said: “We produced a compelling bid document that earned the unanimous recommendation of the Rugby World Cup board. That recommendation was questioned last week by rivals, but endorsed a second time by World Rugby last week.

“However, the view of the experts and World Rugby’s leadership was overturned by World Rugby Council members, who may have had other factors to take into account.

“You wonder what 15 months of evaluation of the three bids at considerable expense was all about. You wonder if it is a waste of money.”

1995 World Cup hero Chester Williams said he was saddened for the people of South Africa. “I feel strongly for people who would have benefited from job creation. South Africa needed this World Cup on so many levels.”

Williams’s 1995 teammate Joel Stransky added: “You can only imagine the lobbying that has gone on behind the scenes, and the one thing it does fix in my mind is that it is an old boys’ club still making decisions at World Rugby.”