England express interest in hosting 2031 World Cup

The Rugby Football Union have confirmed that they will place a solo bid for the 2031 edition of the Rugby World Cup.

With France hosting the 2023 edition, Australia are the front runners to win the hosting rights for the 2027 World Cup. As the bidding process for the 2031 edition is set to begin in January, the England board have expressed their interest which could see them compete with the United States.

RFU chairman chairman Tom Ilube said the prospect of a joint bid with the Irish Rugby Union, Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union was discussed but eventually they decided to opt for it alone.

"We would like to bid for the 2031 World Cup," said Ilube.

"It would be really exciting to have it here and you could imagine what it would be like. That really gives us a focus as well. We will see what happens, it will be interesting.

"It's not happening yet, but it's something that we're really interested in discussing and engaging with the process."

England previously hosted the World Cup in 2015 as it generated £228million in revenue.