UNDER-21 WORLD CUP: England will host the second Under-21 World Cup in June, the International Rugby Board (IRB) said yesterday.South Africa won the inaugural event in Johannesburg last year by beating Australia in the final.
All of the Tri-Nations and Six Nations countries will be sending sides for the tournament, with Argentina, Canada and Japan the other nations to compete.
The southern English county of Oxfordshire will host all of the matches from June 13th-29th.
The FIRA Under-19 World Cup - won last year by New Zealand in Italy - will also be in Europe this year, taking place in France in April.
WORLD CUP: English rugby officials said yesterday they were confident a new attempt to win the right to stage the 2007 Rugby World Cup would be successful.
The IRB told England and France, the two nations competing to host the event, last November to re-submit their plans.
France was told to try again because it proposed a September-October tournament while the IRB wanted the tournament in October to November or June to July.
England's bid had failed on two counts because it reduced the tournament from 20 to 16 nations and altered the structure of the qualifying tournament.
English RFU chief executive Francis Baron said their new bid had already won substantial backing. The revised bid will be submitted on January 15th.
