No thank you.
The rest of the rugby world know what happened last time.
Payback has not yet occured.
No thank you.
The rest of the rugby world know what happened last time.
Payback has not yet occured.
2,100 posts
South Africa's pursuit to host another Rugby World Cup is far from over, according to Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie. Fresh off his 2026 Budget Vote Speech in Cape Town, McKenzie is fired up and ready to bring the prestigious tournament back to South African soil. "We have the best players, the best teams, the best World Cup team – we’ve won the World Cup multiple times – we have to host the World Cup. I’m not going to rest until I do that," he declared.
The last time South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup was in 1995, a memorable event where the Springboks won the title on their debut. Despite this success, subsequent bids to host the tournament have fallen short, including a notable loss to France for the 2023 event, even though South Africa was initially the preferred candidate.
The financial strain of hosting such a colossal event has been a significant deterrent in recent years. SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer expressed a reluctance to pursue further bids due to the substantial government guarantees required by World Rugby. "Saru is very financially prudent," McKenzie acknowledged. "They don’t want to commit to something they have no power over."
"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'."
In his fervent campaign to secure the hosting rights, McKenzie has praised the efforts of SA Rugby president Mark Alexander and Oberholzer for stabilizing the union’s finances and is keen on spearheading the bid from the government's end. "Then we’ll go to SA Rugby and say to them, 'Mark, go get us that World Cup'."
While Australia and the USA are set to host the 2027 and 2031 Rugby World Cups respectively, the race is still on for the 2035 tournament, with Argentina, Spain, Japan, and Italy already vying for the chance. The dream of hosting the World Cup may have slipped from the grasp of some, like Saudi Arabia who recently withdrew their bid, but for South Africa, under the determined leadership of McKenzie, the chase is very much alive.