World Rugby CEO Responds To 2023 RWC Allegations By Ireland & France

“We’re very confident that our process actually is robust and stands up to any scrutiny.”

World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper has insisted the 2023 World Cup host selection process was robust, fair and the most professional of any tournament in the world, despite claims from France and Ireland.

South Africa topped the recommendation list in World Rugby’s review, with France and Ireland coming 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The publication of the report has led to angry responses by the FFR (French Rugby Federation) and IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union), both of whom have called into question aspects of the process.

Speaking on The Offload on Sky Sports, Gosper explained the reports findings, noting the tournament needs exceptional scale and infrastructure.

“We don’t look at it in terms of small or big,” said Gosper.

“We look at it in terms of who is presenting a magnificent facility infrastructure and everything that goes around making a World Cup a success.

“Ireland is incredibly competitive in this process. If they consider themselves a small country, they are in the game and will continue to be.

“There’s a vote to come and we’ll see what happens with that. But certainly this is now the third biggest global sporting event on the planet and it does require scale and it does require facilitates that are world class.

“And in this particular contest you’ve got two countries that very recently have hosted some world-class events beyond Rugby World Cup [EURO 2016 and FIFA World Cup 2010], and have demonstrated and been experienced in deploying their talents around events such as this.

“It’s a tough competition.”

While Gosper is disappointed in some of the comments made, he insists all three countries are capable of hosting a “magnificent World Cup.”

“It’s disappointing that there has been some comments made that we don’t believe are accurate and reflect the accuracy of our report,” Gosper said

“We have official channels which they are using to ask us on every element of our report, why they scored it a certain way, were there errors, were there issues, and we’re in the process of answering those questions.

“But we’re very confident that our process actually is robust and stands up to any scrutiny.

“Lets be fair, all three of these countries can put on a magnificent World Cup, everyone qualifies in that sense, however there has been a points winner and that is the recommendation of the World Rugby board.”

Sky Sports