Cancel RU's World Cup 2019 in Japan

[sigesige00]

I think that the decision of IRB to have the 2019 World Cup in Japan should be canceled.
The biggest problem is the main stadium. The lack of an international standard Rugby national stadium in Tokyo has been a big problem, but the Japanese government made it clear that they have no intention to solve this problem.
Currently Japan's Association Football (Soccer) national stadium is an athletic stadium in the very convenient place in Tokyo, which was built for the 1964 Olympics. This stadium is too old, and massive re-innovation has been needed. Football and Rugby fans have been campaigning for a Football/Rugby stadium. However, the government has decided to build a new athletic stadium, ignoring the massive voice from the fans. The main reason is Tokyo's far-right governor's obsession with the 2020 Olympics. Tokyo's governor wants a new athletic stadium as the main stadium of the 2020 Olympics.
By this, there will be no good Rugby stadium suitable for the World Cup final. The IRB should decide to have the 2019 World Cup in another country.

 

[William18]

While this poster presents often creates these rather pointless threads, I think there is some merit in discussing it.

It does seem interesting to me that many of Japan's largest stadiums have an athletics track. Is athletics big in Japan? Obviously most of the baseball stadiums can't be used for rugby. I don't think using athletics stadia should be held against Japan. Lots of the same stadiums were used in 2002. I still think stadiums like the one in Satiama could be used. I think the world cup in Japan could still struggled though especially with crowds. I am all for having world cups in developing countries but I think a world cup in Argentina, Italy or the USA is going to do a lot more for the expansion of the game. I don't see a lot of potential in Japan becoming a major rugby nation so see this world cup as a bit of a waste of time.

 

[sigesige00]

In Japan, there are some problems. One is the political power of athletics. The political power of athletics is strong; there are many influential politicians are connected to the Japanese Federation of Athletics. The other is the annual National Sport Festival (Kokutai), held in every prefecture. Since Kokutai is held in every prefecture, every prefecture has a very good athletics stadium as the main venue of Kokutai. Therefore many football clubs, including top flight clubs, are using athletic stadiums as their homes.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Just wanted to tell you: around here, we don't call it "RU World Cup", we just call it "World Cup". Actually, the prefix "RU" is quite unnecessary.

 

[William18]

In Japan, there are some problems. One is the political power of athletics. The political power of athletics is strong; there are many influential politicians are connected to the Japanese Federation of Athletics. The other is the annual National Sport Festival (Kokutai), held in every prefecture. Since Kokutai is held in every prefecture, every prefecture has a very good athletics stadium as the main venue of Kokutai. Therefore many football clubs, including top flight clubs, are using athletic stadiums as their homes.

But if the athletc stadiums were good enough for FIFA then shouldn't they be good enough for us?

 

[sigesige00]

But if the athletc stadiums were good enough for FIFA then shouldn't they be good enough for us?

Athletics stadiums can be used for Association Football, whose pitch is 68m*105m.
However, RU field is 70m*120m. A possible solution is to adopt the size same as Association Football. Width is 68m, length is 105m (field of play - 93m, ingoal - 6m*2)

 

[William18]

Surely the IRB have thought about this?

(probably wasting my time)

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I know the RWC isn't nearly as big as FIFA's SWC but if SA can build 10 new stadia surely the 3rd (?) biggest economy in the world can build half that. Might be true that it wasn't a smart decision from our politicians to host 2010 but still.

 

[Twebby]

New Zealand apparently didn't have large enough stadiums or enough accommodation for everyone, so we'll pretend the 2011 RWC never happened.

And England will probably be using some football stadiums in 2015, so we should probably cancel that now to save a bit of time and embarrassment.

Seriously, very few countries (in theory) currently have enough rugby specific stadia to host a RWC. This is why they are planned so far in advance, so the host nation actually has time to get themselves organised. The 2002 football World Cup which Japan co-hosted was a huge success - football is huge in Asia, but how can rugby ever hope to interested areas of the world if the best players never make it over there? Asia is a huge untapped market for rugby, but it will never get any bigger if the sport's biggest venue just continously rotates between 5 or 6 rugby nations.

I notice no alternative venue for 2019 has been suggested in the above posts.

 

[sigesige00]

New Zealand apparently didn't have large enough stadiums or enough accommodation for everyone, so we'll pretend the 2011 RWC never happened.

And England will probably be using some football stadiums in 2015, so we should probably cancel that now to save a bit of time and embarrassment.

Seriously, very few countries (in theory) currently have enough rugby specific stadia to host a RWC. This is why they are planned so far in advance, so the host nation actually has time to get themselves organised. The 2002 football World Cup which Japan co-hosted was a huge success - football is huge in Asia, but how can rugby ever hope to interested areas of the world if the best players never make it over there? Asia is a huge untapped market for rugby, but it will never get any bigger if the sport's biggest venue just continously rotates between 5 or 6 rugby nations.

I notice no alternative venue for 2019 has been suggested in the above posts.

You said that New Zealand (Aotearoa) did not have enough stadiums. Are you referring to the capacity or field-size?

If even England, the nation of birth of Rugby, do not have enough stadiums, we should seriously consider the change of field-size to accommodate to athletic and football stadiums. If we change the field-size to 68m*105m (same as football), there will be no problem. And, 3 sports (Football, RU, RL) should make agreement about the field-size and grass-depth.

 

[SelimNiai]

No we shouldnt, shut up please

 

[Twebby]

You said that New Zealand (Aotearoa) did not have enough stadiums. Are you referring to the capacity or field-size?

Both is what the world's media was clamouring to tell everyone, but the tournament still magically took place without too much of a hitch.

I'm still yet to see an alternative to Japan being offered up.

 

[norcalbuff]

There is no definitive field size required for rugby. From the IRB's site:

[h=3]1.2 REQUIRED DIMENSIONS FOR THE PLAYING ENCLOSURE[/h](a) Dimensions. The field of play does not exceed 100 metres in length and 70 metres in width. Each in-goal does not exceed 22 metres in length and 70 metres in width.

(b) The length and breadth of the playing area are to be as near as possible to the dimensions indicated. All the areas are rectangular.
(c) The distance from the goal line to the dead ball line should be not less than 10 metres where practicable.

Also, asking soccer to agree to a consensus field size with rugby union and league is absurd given the popularity of soccer worldwide compared to rugby. You might as well ask American and Canadian football to do the same while you're at it.

I'd be more concerned about Japanese crowds showing up and achieving the goals associated with a Japanese RWC than pitch size.

 

[norcalbuff]

Both is what the world's media was clamouring to tell everyone, but the tournament still magically took place without too much of a hitch.

I'm still yet to see an alternative to Japan being offered up.

South Africa or Italy. It's still 7 years away and there is plenty of time to change at this point.

 

[sigesige00]

Also, asking soccer to agree to a consensus field size with rugby union and league is absurd given the popularity of soccer worldwide compared to rugby. You might as well ask American and Canadian football to do the same while you're at it.

I do not think that it is absurd, because my suggestion is to accept the soccer's pitch size (68m*105m).

 

[admartian]

New Zealand apparently didn't have large enough stadiums or enough accommodation for everyone, so we'll pretend the 2011 RWC never happened.

This.

I think the fact that we managed to pull it off is testament to the fact that Japan will do it (better organisation, faster public transport, more money). If anything, the worst part about the RWC was slightly longer wait times for public transport. I wish I could relive the entire tournament again. It was that good.

I'll definitely consider going to Japan for the 2019 one.

 

[usausa]

I do not think that it is absurd, because my suggestion is to accept the soccer's pitch size (68m*105m).

As forementioned, size of the pitch is flexible according to the IRB Laws. And shrinking the pitch is against the IRB's 'running rugby' trend it is taking on, especially with the rule changes. This topic is farcical, we are 7 years out. Let Japan host it, they will find a way. And along the way the IRB will be keeping an eye on it, being that it is the grand prize of 15s rugby.You just sit down and be a fan, let the IRB do it's job of organizing the events. If you are so smart, then go work in rugby yourself and make these absurd changes.