André in Zuid-Afrika
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Rugby World Cup | Quote: | Johannesburg - The South African Rugby Union on Tuesday congratulated England and Japan following the confirmation by the IRB Council that those nations should host the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup tournaments respectively.
The IRB Council voted to accept the recommendation by the board of Rugby World Cup, ending the hopes of South Africa and Italy of staging one of the tournaments.
"We are immensely disappointed but we congratulate the successful Unions," said Mark Alexander, Bid Committee Chairperson and SARU Deputy President.
"I am sure that they will deliver successful and memorable tournaments and we will support them in any way we can. Obviously, this is a sad day for us as we proved in our Tender document that South Africa offered the IRB the prospect of an outstanding event both from a commercial and development perspective. The choice between our Bid and that of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was a narrow one but we respect the Council’s decision."
Alexander thanked the South African government for their unstinting support.
"We worked very closely with our government and without their support we would not have been able to table a bid," he said. "They worked extremely hard in support of our campaign and I’m sure they share our disappointment. I would like to place on record SARU’s deep appreciation of their hard work and commitment."
SARU bid to host both the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup tournaments. The Tender document was submitted on May 8, followed by a presentation to the IRB Council five days later.
The Rugby World Cup Board tabled a report and recommendations to the Council on June 28, identifying England (2015) and Japan (2019) as their preferred hosts.
"In a very short space of time we prepared an outstanding bid," said Mr Alexander. "The process has been an intense one but a worthwhile one. We faced a tough challenge but it was our duty to attempt to bring the tournament back to South Africa and present the best case we possibly could and we have achieved that."
South Africa will defend their title as Rugby World Cup champions next in New Zealand in 2011.
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England I can understand, but Japan? That would almost be like staging the World Cup Ice Hockey Championship in South Africa... 
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