Kingsholm, Gloucester competing to be Rugby World Cup 2015 venue

Gloucester could host the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

The Kingsholm ground is in a long list of 17 potential venues revealed this morning, which will be whittled down to a final 12.

England Rugby 2015 (ER 2015), the tournament organiser for Rugby World Cup 2015, has today announced the long list of 17 potential match venues for consideration to host the 48 Rugby World Cup 2015 matches.

Gloucester as a venue was part of the RFU's bid in 2009, but it appears the city and the club will have to convince the organisers of the rugby-mad city's credentials over all-seater football stadia. The famous ground last hosted a RWC match in 1991 when the All Blacks crushed the USA Eagles.

The Pool Allocation Draw for Rugby World Cup 2015 is taking place in London on December 3 2012, after which ER 2015 and RWCL will be in a position to work through the fixture schedule with all stakeholders to select a final list of up to 12 venues, which will be concluded by spring next year.

Following the selection of match venues, England Rugby 2015 will also subsequently be selecting a range of training and team base camps at locations throughout the country, as well as numerous locations for fan zones, in order to deliver a sporting and cultural celebration that will bring together the British sporting community across the length and breadth of the country, and the global Rugby family, for a festival of world class sport, culture and hospitality.

Rugby World Cup 2015 will involve 48 matches and will take place over a six week period from September 18 to October 31 2015.

The long list of venues selected by ER 2015 and approved by the RWCL Board is as follows:

1. Villa Park, Birmingham

2. Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton

3. Ashton Gate, Bristol

4. Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

5. Coventry Stadium, Coventry

6. Pride Park,  Derby

7. Kingsholm, Gloucester

8. Elland Road, Leeds

9. Leicester City Stadium, Leicester

10.   Olympic Stadium, London

11.   Twickenham Stadium, London  

12.   Wembley Stadium, London

13.   Old Trafford, Manchester

14.   Stadiummk, Milton Keynes

15.   St James' Park, Newcastle

16.   St Mary's Stadium, Southampton

17.   Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Andy Cosslett, England Rugby 2015 Chairman, commented:"The selection of the long list of potential venues represents an exciting milestone for Rugby World Cup 2015, when fans up and down the country can begin to get excited about the prospect of one of sport's greatest events coming to their local city or town.

"Our vision for Rugby World Cup 2015 is to ensure that we take this prestigious tournament to as many parts of the country as possible and we believe that the geographical spread of venues selected will enable us to maximise the reach of the tournament. In addition, we will be selecting further venues for training and team base camps that will ensure that the rugby community is at the very heart of Rugby World Cup 2015.

"We will now continue to work extremely closely with the venues, cities and stakeholders, including the Premier League and Football League, to plan the scheduling of matches and city hosting programmes to select a final list of up to 12 venues, which will be agreed by the early part of next year.

"We are confident that with the venues selected we will be able to reach our target of having up to 2.9 million tickets available, opening up the tournament to more people than ever before and in turn delivering the biggest and best Rugby World Cup that there has ever been.

"The process of choosing the long list of venues was very competitive and we would like to thank the venues and cities who we have met for their full co-operation, including the venues not selected, all of whom provided us with their fulsome assistance and information required to make our selection."

Bernard Lapasset, Rugby World Cup Limited Chairman, said:"Rugby World Cup Limited is delighted with the range of locations and iconic stadia, steeped in sporting folklore, that have been selected as potential Rugby World Cup 2015 match venues. We are very fortunate that England possesses some of the finest sporting venues in the world.

"We have developed a strong working partnership with ER 2015 and planning and preparation continues to advance ahead of schedule. We are sure that this selection of sporting venues will capture the imagination of rugby and sport fans not just in England but all over the world. It is a testament to the strength of the Rugby World Cup brand that there has been such strong interest from a wide range of English cities and venues to host and be a part of the world's third largest sporting event."