TOKYO: Japan wants to host the World Cup again as early as 2035, the country’s rugby union chief said, potentially bringing it back to Asia for a second time.

Japan became the first country outside rugby’s traditional heartlands to stage the tournament in 2019, when the host nation stunned Ireland and Scotland to reach the quarter-finals.

Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi said Wednesday that he had told governing body World Rugby that Japan wants to host the men’s World Cup in 2035 and the women’s event in 2037.

Future hosts recently named by World Rugby have been awarded both the men’s tournament and the women’s event, which takes place two years later.

Iwabuchi said Japan “want to be the number one team in the world when we host it”.

“We’ve informed World Rugby that we want to do it then at the earliest (2035), and we will move forward looking at when the conditions allow us to actually host it,” he said.

Australia will stage the men’s World Cup in 2027 and the women’s in 2029, while the United States will host the men’s event in 2031 and the women’s in 2033.

France will host this year’s men’s World Cup, which starts in September.

AFP