The starting gun has been fired on the tender process to host the next Women’s Rugby World Cup.
The World Rugby Council has declared the tender process open following a ratification in London and this is an opportunity that Ireland should grasp with vigour.
Ireland’s journey at the Women’s Rugby World Cup brought the team to another level of public acclaim and now is a chance for others to pay proper tribute through assisting the IRFU in mounting a credible bid that will be testament to the growing importance of women’s sport in this country and around the world.
This can be a bid which will have a lasting impact on wider sport, for all genders, as well as on the economy and the lives of the whole population.
It’s a starting point where we can show, around a world platform, that we can do things better than might ever be expected of a small island nation.
The process for bidding around the 2017 World Cup will be shorter than before and a bid from Ireland, through the IRFU, is believed to be one that would be favourably received by the powers in the World Rugby responsible for making the decision.
Ireland is the only European nation of substance within Rugby which has never hosted the tournament and given the performance improvement of the team, that is something which needs to be put right.
Limerick’s Call
The 2014 tournament was held at Marcoussis in France, on high quality pitches but away from the need for high capacity stadia that the Men’s game would for now have greater demand of.
Ireland has the capacity to host an exact replica of what France has done by using the excellent sports grounds of the University of Limerick and then switching for the finals to Thomond Park.
It would be possible in Dublin as well but let’s look at the broader benefit of spreading our major events beyond the capital.
Limerick has the infrastructure in Shannon, the reputation having hosted it’s first World Club 7’s in August and the passion to make this work.
“UL Sport would fully endorse the hosting of the Women’s World Cup in Limerick in 2017 availing of the full range of facilities on offer,” said Dave Mahedy, Director of Sport and Recreation at UL when we posed the question back in August.
“The successful hosting of the World Club 7’s last weekend is the perfect example how we pooled our resources together to deliver a quality tournament.”
“We have a huge tradition in Women’s Rugby and it would be very fitting to bid for the Women’s World Cup in Limerick 2017
Partnership between sport, business and Government
This is a bid which has to go through the right channels of the IRFU, and garner the support of Government. We accept that this will require a high degree of control and project management, and that the IRFU, working with the IRB will be in charge.
We also know that there are partnerships that can be formed around the exploration of a bid that will not only be of crucial importance in making it stronger but which will have many side benefits as well.
We have a wealth of talent within sport and business here in Ireland, many of them part of our Sport for Business community, who would not only give but also grow through lending a hand with getting a bid like this off the ground and flying.
Within weeks we could form a group of event management professionals that would give a clear perspective on what was needed and what was possible. We would draw them from as wide a catchment area as has delivered in the past and would do so again on this project.
Some would get involved to gain an inside track on involvement. But more will do so because of a belief that giving something to society without immediate gain is the right thing to do, and will be rewarded.
We will learn along the way about the power of collaboration and implement lessons learned from other bid teams from the Men’s Rugby World Cup proposal around 2023, the UEFA bid for Euro 2020 host city status, and the many other smaller scale but very manageable and very beneficial projects that can be part of a Sport Ireland initiative to match and beat that of Denmark.
Sport for Business has drawn together a strong group of member companies and organisations. Our greatest strength as a group is that we can agitate, draw different minds together and create new ways of going about the business of sport.
This is a project that can prove to be of real benefit for Ireland. It is something which we will start on the shoulders of the team that played it’s way to the highest level Irish sport has ever attained and which deserves to leave a legacy greater than the cheers which will ring out this evening in support of their very possible dream.
The decision will be made as soon as May 2015. The clock is ticking.
