Ranked: The top 10 best possible Rugby World Cup host countries
A replica of the Webb Ellis Rugby World Cup trophy on display. Credit: Alamy
With the 2023 Rugby World Cup on the horizon, supporters will be descending on France[1] in their masses ahead of what promises to be a great occasion.
This will be the second time that France have hosted the prestigious event but out of the world’s top rugby-playing nations, which is the best country to host?
LiveRugbyTickets[2] have studied weather, stadium capacity and accommodation in 30 prospective host nations to rank which country is best, in their top 10.
Japan[3] ranked number one
According to the aforementioned website, Japan is the best country to host the Rugby World Cup, getting a total host score of 7.58 out of 10. Japan ranks consistently high across several factors: it is the third safest potential host country after Portugal[4] (9.17) and Ireland[5] (8.96), with a solid score of 6.88.
It also has the sixth most invested rugby fans across the globe. However, it’s Japan’s transportation links that give it the winning edge as the 2019 host boasts impressive rail, road and air transport infrastructure worldwide, providing a more seamless experience to fans and tourists from across the globe.
The United States is the second-best country to host the World Cup, with a host score of 6.81/10. Recently named as the tournament’s hosts in 2031[6], the USA’s stadiums are ranked higher than any other nation, as they have the most (374) of any country, as well as the highest average capacity (103,800).
LiveRugbyTickets rank countries on ability to host a Rugby World Cup. Credit: Alamy
LiveRugbyTickets rank countries on ability to host a Rugby World Cup.
However, the United States has the lowest safety score of any country analysed (0.83), a far cry from Portugal’s 9.17/10, which knocks them down the list.
Australia[7] takes the third spot, with a host score of 6.71/10. Equipped with arenas like Stadium Australia and Docklands Stadium, the host of the 2027 men’s Rugby World Cup have the third highest rated stadiums in the world with a score of 7.92/10, coming in after the USA (9.58) and England[8] (7.08).
However, the home of the Wallabies is brought down by its low accommodation score: at 3.92/10, it is the worst country for accommodation in the top 10.
This year’s hosts, France, claim fourth position in terms of Rugby World Cup host suitability, achieving a score of 6.46/10. France excels in sustainability (8.12), setting a high standard in environmental initiatives, and scores significantly in fan engagement (8.54). South Africa[9] come in next in fifth.
Perhaps the most surprising in terms of heavyweights not making the top 10 is the absence of New Zealand[10], Ireland, Scotland, Argentina[11], Wales and Italy[12].
Methodology
LiveRugbyTickets wanted to discover which country would be best suited to host the Rugby World Cup.
To do this, they first obtained the current top 30 Rugby Union national teams from the World Rugby website. Please note that due to the current world events, Russia was removed from the data.
Stadium data was collected for each country, including the number of stadiums with more than 10,000 seats, the largest stadium, and the average capacity of the five largest stadiums. Note that any country with fewer than four stadiums of 10,000 capacity were removed (Georgia, Hong Kong, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Namibia).
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Transport infrastructure quality rankings for air, rail and road transport were then also gathered for each country. Note that UK figures were used for England, Scotland and Wales due to a lack of regional statistics.
The safety scores for each country were sourced from the Index scores for the Global Peacefulness Index and Global Terrorism Index.
Index prices for restaurants and hotels, and the number of hotel rooms were then gathered for each country.
The number of registered rugby players and rugby union clubs were collected for each country.
The average mean temperature and number of rain days in October for each country was then acquired for each country.
The sustainability score of each country was then obtained.
Finally, the countries were assigned an index ranking score in the following categories: Transport, Safety, World Cup team, Stadium, Accommodation, Fans, Weather and Sustainability.
A final index score was then calculated based on these factors. The countries were then ranked according to this score.
The article Ranked: The top 10 best possible Rugby World Cup host countries[14] appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
References
- ^ France (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ LiveRugbyTickets (www.liverugbytickets.co.uk)
- ^ Japan (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ Portugal (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ Ireland (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ Recently named as the tournament’s hosts in 2031 (www.planetrugby.com)
- ^ Australia (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ England (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ South Africa (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ New Zealand (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ Argentina (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ Italy (sports.yahoo.com)
- ^ All Blacks are still not ‘good enough’ to win the Rugby World Cup (www.planetrugby.com)
- ^ Ranked: The top 10 best possible Rugby World Cup host countries (www.planetrugby.com)