England Rugby 2015 (ER 2015), the tournament organisers, has announced the long list of 17 potential venues in 15 cities for consideration to host the 48 matches.
Confirmation follows an evaluation process undertaken by ER 2015 in collaboration with tournament owners Rugby World Cup Limited, host broadcaster ITV and commercial stakeholders.
A statement from England Rugby 2015 said: “The selection procedure took into account a geographical spread across the country, sporting and facilities criteria, levels of support from candidate host cities and capacity requirements for the successful delivery of a Rugby World Cup that will see approximately 2.9million tickets being made available to fans, and upwards of 400,000 international fans visiting England from over 100 countries.
“In order to undertake the next stage in the venue selection process, ER 2015 will continue to hold positive discussions with the venues in collaboration with their respective city councils, regional authorities and other stakeholders, including the Premier League and Football League.
“The Pool Allocation Draw for Rugby World Cup 2015 takes place on December 3 2012, after which ER 2015 and RWCL will be in a position to work through the fixture schedule with all stakeholders to select a final list of up to 12 venues, which will be concluded by spring next year.
“Following the selection of match venues, England Rugby 2015 will also subsequently be selecting a range of training and team base camps at locations throughout the country, as well as numerous locations for fan zones, in order to deliver a sporting and cultural celebration that will bring together the British sporting community across the length and breadth of the country, and the global Rugby family, for a festival of world class sport, culture and hospitality.”
Rugby World Cup 2015 will take place over a six-week period from September 18 to October 31, 2015.
The long list of venues selected by ER 2015 and approved by the RWCL Board is as follows:
Villa Park, Birmingham
Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton
Ashton Gate, Bristol
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Coventry Stadium, Coventry
Pride Park, Derby
Kingsholm, Gloucester
Elland Road, Leeds
Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
Olympic Stadium, London
Twickenham Stadium, London
Wembley Stadium, London
Old Trafford, Manchester
Stadiummk, Milton Keynes
St James’ Park, Newcastle
St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
Stadium of Light, Sunderland
