Millar firm on the cup of many countries

The International Rugby Board's serial failure to mount a one-nation World Cup in the northern hemisphere will have its acid test in 180 days, when the biggest single-country tournament to date starts in Australia. If the 48-match, six-week event is a success down under, the decision to allow the 2007 version to take place in France, Wales, Scotland and Ireland will be deemed as spectacular a flop as England's bid to be hosts.

There is no doubt that France could have held the event on their own. That was the basis of their original tender. But the IRB insist there are sound reasons for 10 of the 48 games to be siphoned off to the Celts. "The view is that taking the tournament to other countries adds to the overall interest and revenue," said Syd Millar, acting chairman of the IRB. One member suggested that multiple-country bids kept the market price up by increasing the number of potential candidates. The council took a leap of faith that Scotland will not repeat the disasters of 1999, when Murrayfield was largely empty for four matches, and that the overall feel of the tournament will be much more consistent than in '99.

The perception that it was France's turn in Europe, after England hosted the final in 1991 and Wales did so in 1999, undoubtedly topped the list of check-points among the 22 council members who voted 18-3 for the French, with Millar abstaining. England were always playing catch-up. Their plan to do away with World Cup qualifying rounds was rejected by the IRB, and one source in Dublin dismissed as "arrogant" an RFU suggestion that 18 of the smaller unions had not been sounded out on their opinions. The hangover from England's go-it-alone Five Nations television deal of 1998 can never be discounted.

The number-crunchers also had their say. When the RFU and the French Federation submitted their projections to an IRB audit in January, England forecast a £90m profit for the straight 20-team event to France's £70m. In the words of one RFU insider, "our numbers got knocked back". It is believed one area of contention was ticket pricing, although Twickenham insist their figures were realistic.

One group who may regard the decision as beneficial is England's hard-up Premiership clubs. While domestic rugby in France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will have to shut down for almost two months, the Premiership can play on. The RFU may reflect that, in these harsh economic times, they are better spending their money on trying to win the World Cup, rather than staging it.