Rugby: England's bid backed by Brown

England's bid for the 2015 Rugby World Cup will be backed by British PM Gordon Brown. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Gordon Brown's Government may have been credit-crunched to within an inch of its life, but it still believes it can find enough loose change to support an English bid for the 2015 rugby World Cup.

After long discussions with Whitehall mandarins, the Rugby Football Union yesterday confirmed its interest in staging the event - Twickenham, Wembley and Old Trafford would be the principal venues, along with the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - despite concerns over a £80 million ($208 million) guarantee demanded by the tournament's custodians. Three rivals - Italy, Japan and South Africa - are expected to table competing bids later this month, but England start the race as clear favourites.

The Italians, struggling as a rugby country more than at any point since their Six Nations entry in 2000, are rank outsiders, while the Japanese are said to be more interested in hosting the 2019 competition.

The South Africans, who will stage the football equivalent next year, can make a strong argument on the facilities front and have the advantage of operating in a Euro-friendly time zone, but a Northern Hemisphere option would generate more revenue for administrators who expect a sharp fall in profits from the 2011 tournament in New Zealand. A decision will be made in late July.

England last hosted the World Cup in 1991, dramatically increasing public interest in the sport. The RFU also made a bold pitch for the 2007 competition, but were trounced by France. Francis Baron, the governing body's chief executive, has repeatedly expressed his alarm over the £80 million guarantee, claiming it was "very hard to make the numbers work in the current economic climate". But after securing Government backing, he believes he has minimised the chances of the RFU ending up out of pocket.

Australia yesterday withdrew its plans to bid for either the 2015 or 2019 World Cups, saying the fees for the tournaments are too expensive in the present financial crisis.

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