ARU contemplating Rugby World Cup bid
Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill says his organisation will decide by August 15 whether it would express an interest in hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The International Rugby Board is seeking bidders for both the 2015 and 2019 tournaments and is seeking a fee of STG120 million pounds ($A246.18 million) from the successful bidder of the latter competition.
"Clearly, we have an interest in potentially bidding for 2019," O'Neill said.
"We will go through an assessment process taking into consideration all the pros and cons of another tilt at hosting a World Cup.
"The formula is a somewhat daunting one with the tournament fee for 2019 being 120 million pounds. We need to factor that in."
O'Neill warned of the danger of having two separate games, with some of the leading northern hemisphere nations refusing to include the sanctions section of the Experimental Law Variations, which they will trial from August.
England, Ireland and Wales have all refused to implement the sanctions which include the awarding of short arm rather than full penalties for all but a handful of offences.
The ELV sanctions were trialled in last year's Australian Rugby Championships and the recent Super 14 and were largely credited for speeding up the game and keeping the ball in play more often and producing a better spectacle.
O'Neill said the impasse between the two hemispheres over the laws could not be allowed to continue and had to be resolved by early next year, if any of the ELVs were to be implemented for the 2011 World Cup.
He said he had held informal discussions with his English and Irish counterparts and they were very supportive of the idea of a meeting of all the leading rugby nations to discuss the ELVs.
Officials from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will meet in Perth later this week when they will again discuss proposed expansions to SANZAR tournaments, including the Tri-Nations and Super 14.
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