Cardiff venue may feature in 2015 finals

The International Rugby Board have hinted that they may allow Wales to play some of their 2015 World Cup matches at the Millennium Stadium.

The Cardiff venue is just one of many arenas organisers are looking at using during the World Cup despite the fact that England are supposed to be the only country to host games as they did not bid on a joint platform.

The IRB will meet with organisers in March to discuss dates and stadia to be used in the tournament, and it is thought that Wales may be allowed to play some of their pool games at home in the 74,500-seater stadium in Cardiff.

“Yes there is an issue of Wales playing at ‘home’, but for people in the west of England, it’s much easier to get to Cardiff than it is to get London,” IRB chief executive Mike Miller said.

“Firstly, we will set the dates for the tournament, then we will see what stadia are available and move forward from there.

“No decision has been taken on use of the Millennium Stadium yet. That will be part of the meeting.”

The planning for the 2015 World Cup started in earnest this week with the launch of a new HQ for the host organisation, England Rugby 2015, opposite Twickenham.

The organisation have set themselves the huge task of putting on the best Rugby World Cup in the competition’s 25-year-history – a feat that will be particularly hard given the success of the 2011 tournament in New Zealand.

Around 1.4m tickets were sold at last year’s event but ER 2015 are hopeful of selling at least double that amount, with the cheapest prices for pool games being available for less than £10.