IRFU CHIEF EXECUTIVE Philip Browne says it is too early to say if the union will launch another bid to host the Rugby World Cup after the hosting rights for the 2023 tournament were today awarded to France.

France defied World Rugby’s technical evaluation — which recommended South Africa as the preferred candidate — to win this afternoon’s vote in London, with Ireland receiving just eight votes from Council members.

Ireland’s hopes of staging the tournament for the first time were rocked by the publication of last month’s report, and Browne admits ‘the writing had been on the wall’ before today’s official announcement.

“It is disappointing and I suppose to some extent the writing might have been on the wall in terms of the evaluation report when it was issued but today is all about France and congratulations to France,” Browne said.

“I’ve to thank our bid team who have done fantastic work over the last number of years and I’ve to thank the Governments, both in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, for the support they’ve given us which has been outstanding.

“For almost six years we have focused passionately on bringing a Rugby World Cup to Ireland in 2023. In that time we developed a world class proposition which reflected positively on Ireland and saw us formally acknowledged as a destination well capable of hosting a superb Rugby World Cup.

“A sense of disappointment at what might have been because I think we would have certainly put on a tremendous Rugby World Cup.

“It is not to be. Our race is now run. Today belongs to France. They have our warmest congratulations and very best wishes for a magnificent Rugby World Cup in 2023.”

IRFU chief executive Philip Browne (middle) with bid chairman Dick Spring and IRFU president Philip Orr. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

Former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll, who was part of Ireland’s bid team, also expressed his bitter disappointment.

“Incredibly disappointing, a lot of work gone into it but it wasn’t our day,” he added. “We came out third of three and I suppose congratulations to France, they almost won it in the first round, and I’m sure they’ll host a great Rugby World Cup in 2023.

“I suppose it’s a blind ballot, you don’t know where the votes are going to come from or who they’re going to go to so it always leaves that level of uncertainty and Council members voted and felt France were the most viable option and you have to respect that decision.”

When asked would the IRFU consider bidding to host another World Cup in the future, Browne said: “It’s much too early to even consider that. We need to go away now and just review what we’ve done and that’s for another day really.”

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: ”I am of course deeply disappointed by this result but I wish France the very best in their preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023. World Rugby had a choice of three excellent contenders.

“As someone who has been involved in the bid from the beginning, I had hoped that Ireland would be selected. But we were beaten by another excellent candidate and I know that France will host a superb tournament in 2023. I have no regrets about bidding for the tournament and I want to thank everyone who was involved in it.

“We should never forget that the technical report found that Ireland would be excellent hosts for Rugby World Cup 2023, and there may be other occasions for Ireland to show the world what we are capable of.”

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Ireland miss out on staging 2023 Rugby World Cup as France win bidding process