LONDON—France will host the Rugby World Cup in 2023, a year before the Olympic Games in Paris, after surprisingly beating South Africa and Ireland in a vote on Wednesday. The World Rugby Council disregarded the recommendation of an evaluation report to hand the tenth edition of its showpiece tournament to South Africa. A secret vote by member nations instead saw France, which hosted the 2007 World Cup, beat South Africa 24-15 in a second round. “Just because it went to France doesn’t mean there’s (any) humiliation whatsoever,” said World Rugby president Bill Beaumont, who recommended a South African victory. “If you look there wasn’t a great deal between France and South Africa in the evaluation report.

Source: thestar November 15, 2017 15:05 UTC