The Welsh Rugby Union could create more tension between north and south in the corridors of power this week when it proposes what would be a key change to 2015 World Cup plans.
While the team prepare for their biggest World Cup game in 24 years, the WRU will use the gathering of International Rugby Board delegates in Auckland to press for Wales to play their matches at the Millennium Stadium, including a quarter-final.
When England won their campaign to stage the 2015 World Cup, a central plank of their bid was that the tournament would be held in one country except for a few matches – up to five – that they wanted to hold in Cardiff boosting their ticket revenue by using the 74,500 capacity Millennium Stadium in a rugby country.
The idea was sold to the other unions on the basis that Wales was close to the west of England and the nearest major stadium to the south-west and would cater for a large constituency of English supporters.
The understanding of other countries was that the matches involved, which would include at least one quarter-final, would not include Wales, staying in line with England's one-country bid. The IRB confirmed in May this year that Cardiff would stage matches.
In an interview with the Guardian last month the New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive, Steve Tew, had raised his concerns over any move to change the status quo. "England are hosting the next World Cup and we are currently seeing the benefit of the tournament being played in one country," he said. "Our eyebrows were raised a little bit when England talked about holding games in Wales in 2015. It will happen and I hope Wales will not be playing in Cardiff. If it all comes down to money, they will be. I can see why they would want to play matches there but it would be a World Cup in two nations."
The WRU's argument is that the ground would be more likely to sell out if Wales were playing there, although there did not appear to be too many empty seats when France and New Zealand met in the 2007 quarter-final there.
The union's aggressive stance against changing the way money from World Cups is distributed, never mind pooling Test‑match income, did not sit well with the Sanzar unions, who are going all-out to ensure Wales do not enjoy home advantage in England's one-nation World Cup.
