World Rugby give Japan 2019 vote of confidence

Brett Gosper (Getty Images)
Brett Gosper (Getty Images)

World Rugby organisers say they have complete confidence in Japan's ability to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup despite plans for a new stadium being delayed.

Japanese officials held a press conference in London to announce the next World Cup would kick off on September 2019 and their plan for an alternate stadium.  

A multimillion-dollar stadium that was to be built for the 2019 final will now only just be ready for the 2020 Olympics.

The design had been criticised for looking like a toilet bowl, but just when it looked like World Rugby could send its campaign down the gurgler, the Japanese offered up a 70,000-seat stadium in Yokohama.

Japanese officials say they're now "the land of the rising scrum", with their team setting the tournament alight after one of the biggest upsets in history over South Africa.

And the following week, local Japanese clubs reported a huge surge in children signing up to play.

Japanese tourism and business organisations have set up exhibitions in central London throughout this tournament with the idea that this is about more than just growing the game.

It's a hard act to follow the passion of New Zealand 2011 and the scale of England 2015, but the Japanese aim is to be ground-breaking.

The impending tournament has already piqued interest in other Asian countries. 

"We're seeing great interest coming out of China for some of these brands to get involved and develop sport in that country because it's something the Government is encouraging them to do," said World Rugby boss Brett Gosper.

As for the rugby, organisers can't promise that the so-called pool-of-death problem won't be repeated.

"If we could take [the draw] as close as possible we would do, but we have to take into consideration all of those challenges - Olympics following closely behind, ticketing strategies - there's all sorts of things to take into account," said Gosper.

At least if Japan doesn't make it through the pool stages at home, they won't be the first ones to do so.

3 News