Limerick has won the bid to become the first northern hemisphere host of the Tag Rugby World Cup.
A joint bid led by the University of Limerick Conference and Sports Campus and the Irish Tag Rugby Association landed the event for Limerick which will host up to 3,500 tag rugby players and their followers from more than 20 countries in August 2021.
The event is expected to deliver a €5 million boost for the Limerick economy and 20,000 bed nights.
3,000+ tag rugby players from over 20 countries will travel to #Limerick in August 2021 for the #TagWorldCupLimerick https://t.co/yDKG7L4VtC pic.twitter.com/4ZN1OHJmgX
— Limerick.ie (@Limerick_ie) February 6, 2019
The event will be held across four days but organisers said with many participants travelling from the southern hemisphere, teams are expected to travel in advance of the competition.
The three previous International Tag Federation World Cups were held in New Zealand (2012) and Australia (2015, 2018) but organisers decided to take the next edition to the northern hemisphere and have been won over by the Limerick bid.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Sport Shane Ross said: “This is good news for Limerick, good news for tourism and good news for sport. I would like to congratulate all involved on this successful bid, which highlights both the value of collaboration towards a common goal and also the harmony between sport and tourism.”
Minister of State for Sport Brendan Griffin said Limerick’s hosting of the competition “will have manifold benefits locally and nationally.”
“Irish spectators will have a unique chance to see world-class athletes in action, and indeed might be inspired to take up tag-rugby or a similar sport and get active,” said Mr Griffin.