Following Ireland and Scotland’s withdrawal from the bidding process, the English RFU have decided to submit a bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015 by themselves. Details of the bid will be made public after it is presented to the International Rugby Board Council in Dublin next Wednesday.

Initially it was planned that all four home unions – Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales – would submit a joint bid but no agreement could be reached between the countries over the format for the tournament.

England will now be up against Italy, Japan and South Africa for the right to host the event. Australia also withdrew their interest last month.

The IRB will make a decision on the host nation for the 2015 and 2019 tournaments on July 28th.

“We believe it is time that we brought the tournament back to England,” RFU chief executive Francis Baron said today, “and are confident we would be able to provide the best platform to profile the sport on the world stage and enable us to make a lasting commitment to grassroots rugby.”