After recent plans to bring the Rugby World Cup to Argentina for the first time in 2027, as did Japan to Asia last year, the South American nation has since announced that this will no longer be the case.
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The country plans to abandon its bid to host the rugby showpiece to give Australia a free run as the southern hemisphere candidate, the Daily Telegraph in Sydney reported on Thursday. “We discussed it with Australia and we thought it was not good for us to compete against our partner,” former Argentine rugby player and World Rugby vice-chairman, Agustin Pichot, told the publication.
Pichot, per recent reportage, announced his bid to replace the incumbent former English rugby player, Bill Beaumont, as chairman of World Rugby. Rugby Australia seconded his nomination. The Australian rugby governing body, as with other rugby national rugby unions, including SA Rugby in South Africa, fears it could lose up to A$120 million ($75.40 million) this year due to the financial fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hosting the tournament could mean a huge cash windfall, which the oceanic country will welcome, and would certainly be strong favourites to host the 2027 tournament if Argentina pulled out. France will host the next World Cup in 2023 with World Rugby expected to decide the hosts next year.