England will host the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Japan will stage the event in Asia for the first time four years later, the International Rugby Board (IRB) Council said on Tuesday. Japan, which lost out to New Zealand in the bidding for the 2011 edition and England, host of the 1991 tournament, was awarded the rights ahead of bids from South Africa and Italy. The controversy of previous decisions caused by the “horse-trading” of votes was avoided as the 26-man IRB Council passed the recommendations of tournament organizers Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL) by 16 votes to 10. The RWCL Board, which was asked to review all the bids, argued last month that England would maximize the event's commercial possibilities while a first World Cup in Asia would be a huge boost for the development of the game in that region. “We need two things more importantly now. The first is money for the game and the second is rolling it around the world,” IRB chairman said.
