"We'll never see the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand again," claim the naysayers.
Their reasoning; England have already hosted such a successful tournament whilst setting a new benchmark for ticket sales, that bringing it back to New Zealand can now be considered financially unfeasible.
Well, what a load of old cobblers.
Japan is set to host the Cup in 2019 - I have expressed my reservations about that here - either Europe or South Africa will stage it again in 2023, but a combined bid from New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji could easily host the tournament in 2027, and here's how:
Every eight years the Rugby World Cup is held in Europe. They've had four so far, and despite who is deemed the host country, games are invariably played throughout the UK.
Games in Cardiff are the norm as the Welsh Rugby Football Union will vote for whichever ‘host’ on the provision that their mighty Millennium Stadium will get its share of matches.
So, with Europe hosting Rugby's centrepiece every eight years, surely the true powerhouse of the sport, Polynesia, can be awarded the tournament in the not so distant future with pool games in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga for the first time.
The All Blacks' landmark visit to Apia this year showed once again the wonderful and infectious passion that the Island nations have for rugby, and surely a World Cup partially held there would be a hugely successful endeavour.
The main rugby stadiums in Apia, Suva and Nuku'alofa could all host those host nations' pool matches, where packed crowds full of feverish local support and sun-kissed tourists would provide a unique backdrop to the action on the field.
So, of the 48 scheduled World Cup matches, 12 would be played in the Islands.
The stadiums would all have to have their capacities temporarily increased of course, but the tens of thousands of temporary seats that were installed at New Zealand grounds ahead of the 2011 World Cup showed this can easily be achieved.
The Island's hotels would be full, many new ones built, and there would be cruise ships docked in harbours full of cashed up rugby fans ready to fill the coffers of local businesses.
Each stadium would likely need a temporary capacity of between 15,000 and 25,000.
The 12,500-capacity Sandy Park in Exeter is hosting three games at this year's tournament, while Gloucester's 16,500-capacity Kingsholm Stadium is hosting four, proving that smaller capacity stadiums can still be used in a modern World Cup when allied with the super stadia of big cities to maximise ticket sales. That's where the real big fish of Polynesian rugby, Aotearoa, will play its part.
New Zealand would fill its five biggest stadiums to the brim for the remaining pool and knock out matches.
Dunedin's covered Forsyth Barr Stadium, the yet to be built covered stadium in Christchurch, Wellington's Cake Tin, an expanded Waikato Stadium and Eden Park would host the remaining pool games. To bulk up ticket sales, Eden Park could host all of the lucrative knockout matches with 50,000 seats once again increased to 60,000 as it was in 2011, or even beyond that.
Perhaps the Eden Park Trust Board, with the help of a boastful New Zealand Government, could turn those temporary seats into permanent structures. Replace the rapidly aging West stand with a new three-tiered covered stand, essentially wrapping the impressive South Stand's reach around the ground to create an enclosed atmosphere on par with what the mega stadia of Twickenham and Cardiff can muster.
If cricket is eventually relocated to Western Springs as the Auckland Council is planning, then Eden Park could finally become the true rectangular ground it has always pretended to be, with the bottom tier of seats in the North Stand reconstructed to be just a couple of metres from the sideline.
Within 12 years, Auckland will have its major ring-road network completed and improvements made to its stuttering rail network. Christchurch would be looking to show off its newly built city to the world, and finally host the Rugby World Cup matches it was denied after the catastrophic earthquakes of 2011.
But the true allure of Rugby World Cup 2027 would be the matches held in the Islands. In 12 years' time the proud rugby nations of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji could finally get to co-host the tournament, after providing it with some of its greatest memories since 1987.
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