14 cities in Japan bid for 2019 Rugby World Cup games

And what benefits for the displaced in Tohoku? Another distraction like the Olympics while thousands languish in temporary housing that is fast deteriorating? Free tickets to the matches for them? Hmm...mixed up priorities again.

@dbsaiya You're dead right about this being a yet another case of misplaced priorities but I wouldn't call this a distraction for the majority of Japanese people. The majority couldn't care less about rugby and after Japan is eliminated ( which could be very early on ) by one of the very few countries who do take this sport seriously, interest will drop even further. Free tickets could be the only way to fill the stadiums for some games. A scandalous waste of money.

@Jim

Japan has more rugby clubs than any other country. It's a big thing here, although the national team has never been much to get excited about.

I hope i am still around to go to this. bet it will be great.

@Luca There are clubs but in terms of spectators, rugby doesn't rank high. I actually don't mind rugby ( League of course, not that public school nonsense with posh boys continually booting the thing into touch ), but a look at the empty stadiums you see if you switch on J Sports on a weekend afternoon isn't encouraging. There are sometimes more people on the pitch than in the stands. True, these games aren't at the level of the likes of France v Australia, but it hardly shows a widespread love of the game itself. Contrast this to the decent crowds you can see at a J2 game. My biggest gripe remains. This is money that could have been better spent and whenever a clown like Mori is involved, you can guarantee that this is more about the pride of a few getting rich. Maybe a few handsome men can attract media attention for a few weeks but we'll quickly return to echo-filled stadiums between universities or companies.

I love these news articles that talk about 14 cities, but only mention 12 of them. Can we not have the complete list of cities bidding? Please?

@PeaceWarrior

Toyota has a bid, but I don't know where the other city is.

Singapore and Hong Kong are also in the running, bizarrely....

Thanks lucabrasi, that would be the 13th city. I'm wondering about that 14th.... JT?

I'm quite close to where the games would be played in Toyota so that's where I'm hoping it will happen. It's not hockey but it's fun to watch anyway!! ;)

@PeaceWarrior

Found it. It's Kamaishi city in Iwate.

Never heard of it, either : )

Awesome news, RWC in Japan will be great and a huge boost for the sport. Having the big matches in the new stadium will be awesome as well

Rugby World Cup! I've watched all the World Cup games there was in the past and never once have I seen an empty stadium, even matches like Nimibia etc. It always has a full stadium and that's the beuty of it.However, I'm afraid it wouldn't be the same over here. Japanese rugby should really do something about this University rugby if they want to host a successful Rugby World Cup. I've seen matches like Teikyo against Waseda and you get nearly 80,000 people there. Top league finals what do we get? A lousy number of people! Tokyo 7's has improved since last year compared to the year before that, but after all it is Tokyo; what I'm saying is "bring the game to where the crowd is."