Hope still remains of World Cup rugby in Leeds

But he hopes the decision to keep Elland Road on the shortlist will be justified by big games involving the big teams being brought up north.

England Rugby 2015 yesterday revealed the 17 potential venues for World Cup games with the major talking point being the absence of traditional rugby grounds.

Gloucester’s Kingsholm is the only Premiership rugby ground with even Leicester’s Welford Road omitted in favour of the city’s football venue.

Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium are the two big rugby grounds, but the list is dominated by 12 Premier League and Football League venues, plus the Olympic Stadium and Wembley Stadium in London.

The home grounds of Manchester United, Newcastle, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Southampton have all been included.

And well as Leeds’s Elland Road, ER2015 have also named the Amex Stadium in Brighton, Bristol City’s Ashton Gate, Pride Park in Derby, Coventry’s Ricoh Arena and stadiummk in Milton Keynes as possible venues.

ER2015 will confirm the final list of 10 to 12 venues early in the new year, once the tournament match schedule has been formulated. The pool draw is being held on December 3 in London.

Headingley, which earlier this year hosted rugby league’s World Club Challenge and will host a group match and a quarter-final in next year’s Rugby League World Cup, was never on the original list announced last year.

But Hetherington lobbied for its inclusion and, with a £1m relaying of the club’s pitch getting underway yesterday, had harboured hope that the 21,000-capacity stadium might be included.

Hence his disappointment yesterday, which will only be heightened if Elland Road makes the final list and then only hosts a 2015 pool game between two of union’s lesser lights in front of a half-empty stadium.

“The most disappointing fact is that rugby stadiums have been overlooked in favour of soccer stadiums,” said Hetherington.

“When it was first announced that Headingley was not on the original list we received a lot of letters from fans of rugby union expressing their disappointment that Headingley had been overlooked. We passed those letters on to Twickenham but obviously they have fallen on deaf ears.

“They have their reasons, and the main one is that our capacity is 21,000, while Elland Road is closer to 40,000. We recognise that, and we are pleased that Elland Road is still on the shortlist.

“If they are going to stage big World Cup matches involving the big teams, and I mean the big teams, then I fully understand why they need a bigger stadium.

“But if when they allocate the games and the grounds Elland Road has been overlooked for staging the big teams, then a lot of rugby fans in the north will be very disappointed.”

For their part, Leeds United are delighted that they are still in the running.

United chief executive Shaun Harvey said: “Yorkshire has a long tradition of providing international rugby players and for being exceptionally strong and vibrant at club level.

“And we hope fans of the game will be able to see some of the world’s best players in Leeds during the World Cup.”

The fallout was far-reaching yesterday. Leicester Tigers chairman Peter Tom criticised the decision to scrap Welford Road, which is the biggest club rugby stadium in the country.

The facilities were not deemed to be of a high enough standard, when compared to the 32,000-seater King Power Stadium where Leicester City FC play.

“We are hugely disappointed that Welford Road will not play a part in England’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup in 2015,” said Tom.

“Welford Road has hosted many major occasions over the years, including visits from South Africa, Australia and Argentina national teams in recent seasons.

“It is home to the best-supported and most successful club in the history of the professional game in this country and, as such, we believe it is worthy of Rugby World Cup status.

“Leicester Tigers has always been a forward-thinking and progressive club, and has played an important role in the development and promotion of the game in this country.

“Welford Road is the largest designated club rugby stadium in England, an iconic home of the sport, yet it will not be at the table when it comes to hosting a global rugby event in this country.

“That the organisers of RWC2015 do not think this an appropriate venue for its fixtures is disappointing and confusing. The club invested £15m in building the new Caterpillar Stand in 2009 to take Welford Road’s capacity up to 24,000.

“It is disappointing that this investment is not rewarded with World Cup status while many other venues on the proposed list do not show that level of commitment to our sport.”

Northampton Saints, by contrast, have given their full backing to the selection of Milton Keynes as a potential host city.

Chief executive Allan Robson said: “It is right that England Rugby 2015 demand the highest standard of its stadiums.

“Stadiummk certainly fits into that category, as we know from our own experiences playing there in the Heineken Cup and setting the venue’s attendance record.”