An Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) party will tomorrow present its bid details to the New Zealand Rugby Union as the race starts hotting up for hosting rights for the next two tournaments beyond the 2011 event in New Zealand.

 

The two successful nations are expected to be announced by the International Rugby Board (IRB) at a meeting in Dublin on July 28.

 

Nine original bidders have been whittled down to four with Italy, South Africa and Japan seeking to host either the 2015 or 2019 event while England are in contention for 2015 only.

 

The odds appear stacked against the giant budgets of its rivals but FIR board member Andrea Rinaldo today said Italian Government support would guarantee financial success while meeting the strict demands of the IRB.

 

He said: "We're serious, we know how to handle major sports events, we would love to have rugby glory in the country as a whole.

 

"It would send a clear and positive message about the globalisation of rugby."

 

Italy's coach Nick Mallett said just 0.1 percent of Italy's 60 million population played rugby so there was enormous scope to grow the sport, something a World Cup would accelerate.

 

The pledge of the Italian bid is "for the enlargement of the frontiers of our sport", building on the growth in rugby since the country joined the Six Nations tournament a decade ago.

 

Rinaldo pointed to the success of the 2007 tournament in neighbouring France and said the tournament would be held at the same time of year, from early September to late October.

 

The country could cope with a tourist influx and would use an efficient national train service for transportation.

 

The final would be played at Rome's 83,000-seat Stadio Olimpico, which hosted the 1990 football World Cup final and this year's Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United, while other nine other venues used mostly for football were ready to go.

 

All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith was in Rome in March to see a Six Nations game between France and Italy and spoke of the changing role of rugby in Italian society.

 

He said: "I was really impressed at the way the families get into it.

 

"I think they're sick of the soccer mentality [hooliganism]... and I think it's become a bit of a chic sport over there."