World Rugby Surprises Everyone, Picks France To Host 2023 World Cup

World Rugby Surprises Everyone, Picks France To Host 2023 World Cup

France won the right to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup despite South Africa having the World Rugby Board approval.

Nov 15, 2017 by Alex Goff
World Rugby Surprises Everyone, Picks France To Host 2023 World Cup

In something of a major turnaround, the World Rugby Council awarded hosting of the Rugby World Cup 2023 to France on Wednesday, just about two weeks after the World Rugby Board recommended South Africa to be the host.

As outlined on FloRugby's The Miss Pass podcast, the board measured the three candidate host nations — South Africa, France, and Ireland — on their individual vision and hosting concept, tournament organization and schedule, venues and host cities, tournament infrastructure, and finances.

South Africa scored a 78.97 out of 100 in those categories (all weighted differently, with finances and venues being the most important), and France scored a 75.88. France scored higher on finances and vision but rated much lower in venues and host cities.

Ireland came in third with a 72.25 score.

For many observers, the measurement of venues and host cities didn't make a lot of sense. As France proved in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup, it has a large inventory of excellent venues, and the country's host cities were enormously popular with fans.


Financially, France set records for attendance and income (since broken by England in 2015).

Many complained, so much so that World Rugby felt it needed to release a statement about the selection process, which essentially said, "Umm, right, well candidate host nations can submit additional info..."

But that window for discussion closed on Nov. 10, and then the World Rugby Council voted in London.

In the first round of voting, France received 18 votes, South Africa 13, and Ireland 8. With a winner needing a majority, Ireland was eliminated and a second round of voting was called. France won 24-15.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “Congratulations to France on being elected Rugby World Cup 2023 host. They presented a very strong and comprehensive bid, which clearly resonated with the Council today.

“We had three outstanding host candidates, who raised the bar and overwhelmingly demonstrated that they were all capable of hosting an exceptional Rugby World Cup. There was very little to choose between the candidates and this was reflected in the independently-audited evaluation report."

For many, this was a massive surprise, as it was thought that the World Rugby Board's recommendation would mean a rubber-stamping of South Africa as the next host. However, those who have been to major world sporting events had other ideas. France, despite the scores on the World Rugby Board's scoreboard, is a very enjoyable country to visit, has a wide range of venues that can host rugby matches, loves rugby... and the food is great.

In addition, and not scored by the Board, is the fact that France is much easier to get to for a large number of the traveling rugby fans. And for others who have to travel far, South Africa is closer but not so close that is makes a huge difference.

Still, the choice was a shock, although probably one many observers support.