rlLive stream of World Cup venue announcementrl

rlCardiff and Bristol are set to be unveiled as host cities for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.rl

That's good to hear. I would have thought Ashton Gate would have been a better choice than the Memorial Stadium, but good to see Bristol getting some games. Bit disappointed at no Cardiff City stadium though, would have been good for a QTR Final.

I'd prefer to see the final at Wembley and a double-header to open the tournament. Now that the RFL have decided where games will be held they need to crack on and confirm dates as soon as possible.

Bristol City will probably be at their 28,000 seater new stadium by then. Rovers holds around 14,000 and already stages rugby union. But City are still involved in the marketing and promotion.

The 2013 World Cup grounds

Avignon17,518 capacity The Parc des Sports, which drew a crowd of 16,866 for France's recent international against England, will host a group match.

Bristol12,011 capacity The Memorial Ground will stage a group match, while Filton College will be used as a team training venue.

Halifax14,061 capacity The renovated Shay Stadium will host a group match.

Huddersfield24,500 capacity The Galpharm Stadium, a semi-final venue in 2000, will host a group match.

Hull25,404 capacity and Craven Park 10,000 capacity will host group matches with the city also hosting two team base camps and team training venues.

Leeds20,000 capacity Headingley will host a group match and a quarter-final while two teams will set up base camps in the city along with a team training venue being utilised.

Limerick26,500 capacity Thomond Park, which hosted a first rugby league match last month, will be a venue for a group match.

Perpignan13,000 capacity The Stade Gilbert Brutus, home of Catalan Dragons and a regular Test venue, will host a group match.

Neath5,000 capacity The Gnoll, home of South Wales Scorpions, will host a group match.

Rochdale10,249 capacity Spotland Stadium, which is the home of Championship One club Hornets, will host a group match.

Salford12,000 capacity The Reds' new City of Salford Stadium at Barton will host a group match and the city will also host a team base camp.

St Helens18,000 capacity Saints' new £26million Langtree Park will host a group match.

Warrington15,500 capacity The enlarged Halliwell Jones Stadium will host a group match and quarter-final. The town will also host a team base camp and the University of Chester will be used as a team training venue.

Whitehaven7,500 capacity The planned Pow Beck Stadium, whose initial capacity of 3,200 can be expanded to 5,000 with the use of temporary stands, will host group matches, with the Cumbria Sports Academy used as a team training venue.

Wigan11,000 capacity will host a group match and will be used as a training venue while Wigan's DW Stadium 25,133 capacity will host a quarter-final.

Wrexham15,500 capacity The Racecourse Stadium, home of North Wales Crusaders, will host a group match and a quarter-final, while Wrexham will also host a team base camp and training venue.

Host Venues

Bolton: Will be a team base camp with Bolton Arena's facilities used as a team training venue.

Bradford: the Bulls' Tong High School facilities will be used as a team training venue.

Manchester: Will host a team base camp and will also provide a team training venue.

Preston: The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) will provide team training facilities at UCLan Sports Arena with Preston also hosting a team base camp.

Widnes: Will host a team base camp and the Stobart Stadium will be a training venue.

Workington: Will host a team base camp.

Looks like the RFL chose the right Bristol club.

rlBristol City announce £11.45m lossesrl
[i"It is a big problem," chairman Colin Sexstone told BBC Radio Bristol. "It's a lot of money over three years.
Wages in the Championship are far too big and at Bristol City in particular they are just too much."[/i

It's disappointing to see that London will not host any games - I assume that some sort of bid will have been launched. Surely a game involving either Australia or New Zealand would have been worth playing at The Stoop or one of London's soccer grounds. As it is, it seems rather short-sighted to ignore the capital city.

On the plus side, well done to Bristol for being the only city in England outside the heartlands to get the nod.

Not all the locations have been announced have they? And the semis haven't been announced so it's quite possible that London will get one of the semis. At least I hope they do as it would be foolish to ignore London, especially after the response from southern people to staging the 4 nations match at Wembley.

rlLimerick to reap the benefit of hosting Rugby League World Cup fixturerl

I was just having a think about where the 2013 World Cup games could and should be played. In the RFL press release and press conference they said that the chosen grounds would host 'a group game' and/or a quarter final. Unless I've missed something some grounds must be hosting more than the one game.
Anyway here are my ideas so far. Thoughts?

Group A - Top 3 Progress to Quarters
Australia v England - Hull
Fiji v Ireland - Rochdale
Australia v Fiji - Headingley
Ireland v England - St Helens
Australia v Ireland - Limerick
England v Fiji - Huddersfield

Group B - Top 3 Progress to Quarters
New Zealand v Samoa - Warrington
Papua New Guinea v France - Perpignan
New Zealand v France - Perpignan
Papua New Guinea v Samoa - Avignon
New Zealand v Papua New Guinea - Halifax
France v Samoa - Avignon

Group C - Top Team Progresses to Quarters
Scotland v Tonga - Hull KR
Tonga v Italy - Salford
Italy v Scotland - Leigh

Group D - Top Team Progresses to Quarters
USA v Wales - Bristol
Wales v Cook Islands - Wrexham
Cook Islands v USA - Whitehaven

Group C/D Inter Group Matches
Scotland v USA - Hull KR
Tonga v Cook Islands - Whitehaven
Italy v Wales - Neath

Bristol says thanks. If you're really in Devizes, then you're in a town that I'd like to host the third (or maybe fourth... there is another...) Wiltshire RL team. PM me if you'd be interested.

According to the AMNRL USA Tomahawks v Wales may be a double header with Australia v England to open the 2013 World Cup at the Millenium Stadium.

That would be pretty good, especially if the AMNRL aren't involved.