Japan is hosting the ninth Rugby World Cup over September and October before concluding in Yokohama on November 2nd.
It is the first time the tournament has been held in Asia, outside of the 'traditional' rugby-playing nations.
New Zealand are hoping to defend their crown for the second time in a row, but with the 2019 tournament set to be unlike any we have seen before - what do we know about Japan 2019 and what impact could it have on the future of the game?
1987
1991
Hosted By:
Hosted By:
Winners
Winners
New Zealand
Australia
Points scored
Points scored
Top points scorer
Top points scorer
126
68
Grant Fox
Ralph Keyes
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
6
6
Craig Green,
John Kirwan
Jean-Baptiste Lafond,
David Campese
Stadium capacity
Total attendance
Stadium capacity
Total attendance
1,006,350
478,449
1,212,800
1,021,827
%
Attendance
%
Attendance
Matches
Matches
32
32
60
79
Average Attendance
Average Attendance
20,156
31,493
1995
Hosted By:
2003
Hosted By:
Hosted By:
1999
Hosted By:
Winners
Winners
England
South Africa
Winners
Australia
Points scored
Points scored
Top points scorer
Top points scorer
Points scored
Top points scorer
113
112
Jonny
Wilkinson
Thierry
Lacroix
102
Gonzalo
Quesada
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
7
7
Doug Howlett,
Mils Muliaina
Jonah Lomu,
Marc Ellis
8
Jonah Lomu
Stadium capacity
Total attendance
Stadium capacity
Total attendance
Stadium capacity
Total attendance
2,208,529
1,837,547
1,423,850
938,486
2,104,500
1,562,427
%
Attendance
%
Attendance
Matches
Matches
48
32
83
%
Attendance
77
Matches
41
83
Average Attendance
Average Attendance
38,282
34,375
Average Attendance
42,683
2015
2007
Hosted By:
Hosted By:
2011
Hosted By:
Winners
Winners
New Zealand
South Africa
Winners
New Zealand
Points scored
Points scored
Top points scorer
Top points scorer
105
Points scored
97
Top points scorer
Percy
Montgomery
Nicolas
Sanchez
62
Morne
Steyn
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
8
8
Bryan Habana
Top try scorer
Tries
scored
Julian Savea
6
Chris Ashton,
Vincent Clerc
Stadium capacity
Total attendance
Stadium capacity
Total attendance
2,470,660
2,263,223
Stadium capacity
2,600,741
Total attendance
2,477,805
%
Attendance
1,732,000
1,477,294
Matches
%
Attendance
Matches
48
92
48
95
%
Attendance
Matches
48
85
Average Attendance
Average Attendance
47,150
51,621
Average Attendance
30,777
Total attendance
Stadium capacity
1,500,000-
1,800,000
2,045,920
New Zealand
% Attendance
Matches
Average Attendance
88
48
37,500
New Zealand are clear favourites to lift the title for a fourth time and third in a row, despite suffering a dip in form in the past 12 months.
Four years ago the tournament in England set a record for the highest overall attendance, with almost 2,500,000 people attending the 48 matches, but that figure is expected to drop in Japan. Although there have been issues over the building of new stadiums in time for the competition, up to 1,800,000 people are predicted to attend, putting the overall capacity at around 90% with an average attendance of 37,500.
Iconic
Players /Teams
Leading Points Scorer
(before RWC 2019)
Leading Try Scorer
(before RWC 2019)
Player
Points
Country
Player
Tries
Country
Jonny Wilkinson
Gavin Hastings
Michael Lynagh
Dan Carter
Grant Fox
Andrew Mehrtens
Chris Paterson
Freddie Michalak
Gonzalo Quesada
Felipe Contemponi
277
227
195
191
170
163
140
136
135
125
England
Scotland
Australia
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand
Scotland
France
Argentina
Argentina
Bryan Habana
Jonah Lomu
Drew Mitchell
Doug Howlett
Adam Ashley-Cooper
Chris Latham
Joe Rokocoko
Rory Underwood
Vincent Clerc
Brian Lima
15
15
14
13
13
11
11
11
11
10
South Africa
New Zealand
Australia
New Zealand
Australia
Australia
New Zealand
England
France
Samoa
Leading Points Scorers
(before RWC 2019)
Most Appearances in The World Cup
(before RWC 2019)
Player
Apps
Country
Team
Points Scored
Jason Leonard
Richie McCaw
George Gregan
Keven Mealamu
Schalk Burger
Jonny Wilkinson
Mike Catt
Brian Lima
Bryan Habana
Gethin Jenkins
22
22
20
20
20
19
19
18
18
18
England
New Zealand
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
England
England
Samoa
South Africa
Wales
New Zealand
Australia
France
England
South Africa
Scotland
Wales
Argentina
Ireland
Samoa
2,302
1,645
1,487
1,379
1,250
1,142
1,049
992
973
654
Jonny Wilkinson was responsible for one of the most iconic moments in Rugby World Cup history with his drop-goal against Australia in the 2003 tournament enough for a dramatic England win, and he has a place in the history books as the leading points scorer in the history of the competition - with no current player even in the top 20 or threatening to overtake the former fly-half.
Wilkinson also features in the list of leading appearance makers to put him in the pantheon of all-time World Cup greats, while Bryan Habana and Brian Lima also feature heavily and Jonah Lomu's impact will live long in the memory. Adam Ashley-Cooper could become the most prolific and experienced player of all-time if he plays a prominent role for Australia in Japan.
Japan Stadiums
Sapporo Dome
Capacity: 41,410
Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium
Capacity: 16,334
Kumagaya Rugby Stadium
Tokyo Stadium
Capacity: 25,600
Capacity: 49,970
City of Toyota Stadium
Capacity: 45,000
Kobe Misaki Stadium
International Stadium
Yokohama
Capacity: 30,132
Capacity: 72,327
Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa
Fukuoka Hakatanomori
Stadium
Capacity: 50,889
Capacity: 21,562
Hanazono Rugby Stadium
Capacity: 24,000
Oita Stadium
Capacity: 40,000
Kumamoto Stadium
Capacity: 30,228
It has cost Japan more than three times as much to put the infrastructure in place to hold the Rugby World Cup when compared to England four years ago.
The stadia and facilities in England were already in place when they were awarded the tournament which meant around £77million was needed to get everything up to the right standard, whereas Japan have forked out almost £500m on preparing, refurbishing the grounds and installing other facilities. Almost half of that has come in the shape of running costs for stadium operations and provision of services to teams, guests and the media count for around £200m.
Although not a concrete figure, it is also expected that spending by international visitors will not be able to top that from four years ago, with Japan expecting around £720m to be spent by tourists during the tournament despite roughly the same amount of people expected.
In total, Japan has seen a much greater outlay in terms of money spent to prepare for the tournament compared to England four years ago, but the GDP returns are expected to be significantly more.
Total
£2,970M
£3,000M
Total
£2,267M
£2,250M
Total
£1,470M
£1,500M
Total
£1,079M
£750M
£0
Output
GDP Increase
Output
GDP Increase
Japan 2019
England 2015
Direct
Impacts
Primary Indirect Impacts
Secondary Indirect Impacts
£1,600M
Total
£1,300M
£1,400M
£1,200M
Total
£855M
£1,000M
Total
£670M
£800M
£600M
Total
£387M
£400M
£200M
£0
Japan 2019
England 2015
Japan 2019
England 2015
Output
GDP Increase
International visitor spending
Local visitor spending
Event costs
Infrastructure
Japan 2019
England 2015
406,000
400,000
Visitors
Visitors
International Visitors
To The Tournament
25,000
34,000
Jobs/Volunteers
Jobs/Volunteers
Jobs/Volunteers
Created
England
23%
R.O.W
19.7%
Netherlands
2.5%
South Africa
3.1%
Wales
3.6%
Scotland
4.1%
Australia
15.6%
USA
4.6%
New Zealand
7.3%
Ireland
7.9%
France
7.7%
Australia
Wales
Rest of the World
New Zealand
England
Scotland
France
Netherlands
South Africa
Ireland
United States