Newcastle Host World Cup Rugby Matches

2 May 2013, 13:15 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

St James' Park in Newcastle has been chosen as one of 13 venues in the UK to host three Rugby World Cup matches in 2015.

10 English cities plus Cardiff will host 48 matches.

Following the success of the Olympic football competition last summer, Newcastle will join the world's great sporting cities by staging three matches of the famous Webb Ellis Cup at St James' Park in October 2015.

Two of rugby's great superpowers - defending champions, the New Zealand All Blacks - will join double World Cup winners South Africa in group matches in the city.

They will be joined by former World Cup semi-finalists Scotland and the South Sea Islanders Tonga and Samoa.

Match Schedule

South Africa v Scotland 3rd October

New Zealand v Tonga 9th October

Samoa v Scotland 10th October 

The 13 Match Venues and Host Cities selected are:

Twickenham Stadium (London),
Wembley Stadium (London),
Olympic Stadium (London),
Millennium Stadium (Cardiff),
Manchester City Stadium (Manchester),
St James' Park (Newcastle),
Elland Road (Leeds),
Leicester City Stadium (Leicester),
Villa Park (Birmingham),
Kingsholm Stadium (Gloucester),
stadiummk (Milton Keynes),
Brighton Community Stadium (Brighton)
Sandy Park (Exeter)

Taking the game to ten cities across the country enables England Rugby 2015 to showcase the game to a large audience across the length and breadth of the country.

The Match Schedule will see 25 matches played in dedicated Rugby venues, seven in multi-event stadia and 16 in football venues.

The Tournament will open at Twickenham Stadium on Friday September 18th, 2015, where England will face Oceania 1, confirmed at the close of the Qualification process in 2014.

In addition to a selection of Pool games, Twickenham Stadium will also host two Quarter-Finals, the Semi-Finals and the Final on October 31st. 

Below: Press conference announcing Rugby World Cup matches at St. James' Park