By Ndumiso Mlilo
JOHANNESBURG, Nov.15 (Xinhua) -- South Africa (SA) Rugby on Wednesday expressed the disappointment at the bidding failure of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but said they won't appeal against the decision.
The World Rugby Council awarded the 2023 Rugby World Cup host to France on Wednesday. The South African rugby controlling body said they are "bitterly disappointed" about the decision.
"We are bitterly disappointed at this decision and would like to apologize to the people and government of South Africa for raising their hopes. We did everything in our power to bring the tournament to South Africa and we expected to have that right confirmed today," said Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby.
The World Rugby's Board had recommended South Africa and the Council members voted for France through a secret ballot. He stated that they did everything to convince the World Rugby Council but surprisingly lost.
Alexander said, "We produced a compelling bid document that earned the unanimous recommendation of the Rugby World Cup board. That recommendation was questioned last week by rivals, but endorsed a second time by World Rugby last week. However, the view of the experts and World Rugby's leadership was overturned by World Rugby Council members, who may have had other factors to take into account."
He stated that for the sake of rugby they wish the host all the best and won't appeal. Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, said they will not challenge the decision to award France. He stated that the vetting was conducted transparently in the beginning and badly in the last two weeks.
Roux said, "We have said throughout that we would honor both the letter and the spirit of the process and we now consider the 2023 bidding process closed. However, in the feedback sessions I am sure we will be recommending to the World Rugby Council that the verdict of the evaluation committee become binding. World Rugby ran an exhaustive and transparent process for 15 months to identify the best host nation, only for the process to go entirely opaque for the past two weeks."
Alexander said after this disappointment they do not know where to go from here. He said the next rugby leaders would decide where to bid for the 2027 World Rugby Cup tournament or beyond. He said their hearts are "bleeding" that they failed in the bid but expressed hope that the country will host the tournament again. South Africa was competing against Ireland and France. Enditem
