THE host nations for the 2015 and 2019 World Cups will both be unveiled in July next year.
The International Rugby Board begins the tender process this month when they will invite all member unions to express their interest in staging the competition.
IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset said: "We believe that awarding two tournaments together
will provide a better timeframe for planning. It will also provide longer term certainty for the hosts and commercial partners."
Every previous World Cup has been awarded to a major nation but Lapasset has indicated that the Rugby World Cup board is ready to look further afield.
New Zealand secured the rights for 2011, beating the populist choice of Japan who won many neutrals over with an accomplished bid only to lose the vote 13-8. Japan were angered by what they saw as a carve-up among the sport's major nations, with the decision to retain secret voting causing further dismay.
But Japan may consider a fresh bid in light of Lapasset's comments, while the likes of Argentina and Canada may also tender.
Lapasset said: "As revenue generation is vital to our development plans we recognise that the World Cup has to be held in one of our senior core markets on a regular basis.
"However, the commercial success of the tournament also means we can now consider placing the tournament in new developing markets to assist the game's strategic growth."
Lapasset hailed last year's World Cup in France as a major success that will help expand the sport.
He said: "The 2007 tournament enjoyed a cumulative global TV audience of four billion while 2.2 million fans attended matches.
"It is vital we continue to maximise the popularity and success of the tournament.
"It is the major building block of the game as it provides substantial investment revenue for the development of rugby around the world.
"Last year's tournament generated a surplus of over £120m which has been reinvested through grants to unions, the underwriting of international tournaments and the funding of targeted strategic high performance programmes."
The full article contains 356 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
