England will host the 2015 Rugby World Cup, while Japan will stage the 2019 edition, the International Rugby Board (IRB) announced here on Tuesday.

The 26-man IRB council voted to ratify a recommendation from the World Cup board that England and Japan should host the next two tournaments.

The English Rugby Football Union beat competition from South Africa and Italy after submitting a bid that outlined how England's "low risk, high return" package is projected to generate STG300 million ($A600 million) for the IRB, who rely on the tournament for 98 per cent of their income.

On top of the STG80 million ($A160.21 million) tournament fee, the "mature" UK market would attract a further STG220 million ($A440.57 million) in commercial returns from broadcasting, sponsorship and merchandising.

That figure is understood to be at least 20 per cent more than the bids from either South Africa or Italy and 50 per cent greater than France generated from the 2007 World Cup.

The 2015 World Cup will run from September 4 to October 17, when the final will be played at Twickenham.

Matches will be staged in 10 cities and the 12 stadiums chosen include Wembley, Manchester United's Old Trafford, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, Liverpool's Anfield and Leeds's Elland Road, while the Millennium Stadium in Wales is the only venue being used outside England.

The last time England hosted the tournament was in 1991, when Will Carling's team were beaten in the final by Australia.

Hosting the 2015 Rugby World Cup is estimated to be worth STG2.1 billion ($A4.21 billion) to the British economy.

The tournament forms a central plank of Britain's so-called "decade of sport", which also includes the 2012 Olympics, the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and potentially the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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