South Africa will never again host the Rugby World Cup

Get real Mr Gayton McKenzie and stop the political gesturing. South Africa will never again host the Rugby World Cup. Commercially it is a fantasy. Stop playing the public through rugby.

South Africa – Rugby World Cup

South Africa’s Sports Minister McKenzie, bullish and buoyant, is using rugby, the Springboks success, the adulation of the public for the Springboks within South Africa, as a pawn in a political push for popularity.

There is no guarantee McKenzie’s political portfolio will remain beyond the next election and there is no guarantee of anything political in this country, so when he publicly commits to R3billion from the South African government as part of its commitment to ‘bring back the World Cup to South Africa’, it is all bluster.

If being the best on the field was the measurement for who hosts Rugby World Cup tournaments, then just three countries would host the World Cup: South Africa (4), New Zealand (3) and Australia (2) have won nine of the 10 tournaments.

New Zealand hosted a second World Cup in 2011, which they won, as they did the first one in 1987.

But they knew post 2011 that commercially it would never be a realistic option to host another World Cup, unless it was done in partnership with Australia.

The Australians, hosts of next year’s World Cup, after they hosted in 2003 for the first time, won’t bid again for some time.

South Africa’s bids for a second World Cup did not succeed, with an independent committee endorsing South Africa’s bid, on merit, to host the 2023 edition.

World Rugby’s Council members refused to endorse the independent committee’s decision and France was voted the winner.

South African rugby’s leadership, led by President Mark Alexander, said that it was not feasible, practical or even prudent to ever bid for another World Cup.

South Africa, because of the currency imbalance, could simply not afford to host the tournament. There would be no way to justify such a bid, socially and from a sporting perspective.

The SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer earlier this year dismissed suggestions South Africa should continue to bid for a tournament hosted only once in South Africa – and on the African continent.

The emotion of 1995, when South Africa hosted – and won the final – in their first appearance, has intensified the romance that by virtue of being the Springboks, the sport’s world governing body has a moral duty to give South Africa a second tournament.

World Rugby knows no morality and money is the only romance that resonates within the organisation.

Oberholzer, several years ago led the team of consulting experts assisting SA Rugby in their previous bids. A few months ago, in his capacity as SA Rugby CEO, he spoke of the realities in South Africa and of the country’s economics, which were not strong enough to beat off the challenge of wealthier hosts and bidders who could provide immediate financial guarantees and already had the necessary infra-structure.

Australia, in 2027, and the United States in 2031, will host the men’s World Cup.

“I’ve already spoken to some sponsors to say, ‘can you give R200-million, can you give R400-million’. Then I’m going to government, like we’ve done with Formula One. We’ll say, ‘here’s the R3 billion’,” said McKenzie.

McKenzie praised SA Rugby president Mark Alexander and Oberholzer for stabilising the union’s finances, but stressed he wants to drive the process from the government side.

“Then we’ll go to SA Rugby and say to them, ‘Mark, go get us that World Cup’.”

If only it was that simple Mr McKenzie.

If it was so easy then South Africa would have hosted the 2023 World Cup.

South Africa’s bid was the best of Ireland, France and South Africa, but this merit decision of the independent committee was secondary to the internal politicking among World Rugby’s elected officials.

South Africa has hosted several versions of the under 20 World Championship and the World Sevens, but when it comes to XVs, there is rightly and justifiably no appetite to invest in fiction.

The bravado of McKenzie’s words will resonate with an emotional outpouring from rugby fans, but the bravado is more bull than bullish in real terms.

It is also bravado based on political positioning because it has no rugby substance of pulling power.