South Africa is now favourite to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup

South Africa as a whole received a much-needed boost after World Rugby, the sport’s international body, endorsed the country as its preferred host for 2023’s World Cup on Tuesday.

The board unanimously voted to the showpiece tournament to return to Africa.

Yet in the greater scheme of things, there’ll still be some uncertainty as World Rugby’s council – which includes member countries – now vote on November 15 to determine the host.

“I would like to congratulate South Africa on a superb bid and all the bid teams for their dedication and professionalism throughout the process to date,” said Bill Beaumont, World Rugby chairman.

“The comprehensive and independently scrutinised evaluation reaffirmed that we have three exceptional bids but it also identified South Africa as a clear leader based on performance against the key criteria, which is supported by the Board in the recommendation.”

While there is no doubts about South Africa’s ability to host international tournaments – it has successfully pulled off World Cups in rugby, cricket and soccer, it’s interesting that World Rugby is satisfied with the economic and political outlook.

One of the criteria for bidders was “an enabling environment of political and financial stability that respects the diversity of the Rugby World Cup’s global stakeholders”.

“This nomination is confirmation of that belief and reward for an outstanding bid in which no detail was too small to be addressed or any question not comprehensively answered. We are 100% confident that the commitments we made in our document will be delivered. We will make all of world rugby proud of South Africa 2023,” said Jurie Roux, chief executive of the South African Rugby Union.

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