England, so reluctant for many weeks to take the decision to bid for the 2015 World Cup, now seem virtually certain to host the tournament. Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL), the organising body, confirmed their recommendation that England are hosts in six years' time and Japan become the first developing union to host the World Cup in 2019.

That recommendation must be rubber-stamped by a special meeting of the International Rugby Board council on July 28 but they will scarcely go against the analysis of their own organisers. RWCL have also supported the principle that the tournament should not stray far beyond the boundaries of the host union though, in their tender, the Rugby Football Union have agreed several matches will be played in Cardiff's Millennium Stadum.

Though they staged both semi-finals of the 1999 tournament at Twickenham, that tournament was hosted by Wales so this would be the first time England have been the sole hosts; even though the 1991 tournament started and finished in Twickenham, the RFU were co-hosts along with the other home unions and France, all of whom staged pool games.

This time the financial muscle which has been England's biggest bidding weapon has clearly played a decisive role. The IRB know that the 2011 tournament in New Zealand will not make the kind of financial return that France did in 2007, with a £122.4 million surplus, and if their development progamme is to be sustained, they must make up for that in 2015.

The choice of England and Japan achieves "a balance between funding the global game and developing new rugby markets," Bernard Lapasset, the IRB chairman, said. The other two countries bidding to stage the next two World Cups (the first time the IRB has looked further ahead than one tournament), South Africa and Italy, have been dropped and it is possible that the poor attendances at matches on the current Lions tour to South Africa influenced the eventual recommendation.

"All the tenders were of a very high standard," Lapasset said, though it will be a blow to South Africa that the infrastructure being put in place for next year's football World Cup will not be used for another global event five years later. Italy and South Africa both had strong government support and would, Lapasset said, be capable of hosting outstanding Rugby World Cups now or in the future.

"The commercial success of Rugby World Cup means we can now consider placing the tournament in the developing rugby markets to both reflect and assess the game's continued strategic growth," he said. "It's all about finding the right combination. A tournament in England would allow the iRB to maximise funding available for investment in the game through a strong commercial programme and a great RWC showcase in the heart of the UK's proposed 'decade of sport'."

The RFU was initially concerned about bidding in the current harsh economic climate, knowing that the IRB required a guarantee of around £80m - a requirement which Australia, who hosted such a successful 2003 tournament, did not consider viable. But the RFU have worked with the Football Association and the Barclays Premier League clubs to ensure they can play matches in the country's most iconic football stadia, among them Wembley and Old Trafford, Anfield and the Emirates, as well as Twickenham, Cardiff and the traditional rugby venues of Gloucester and Leicester.

This is a complete turnaround from the RFU campaign to stage the 2007 tournament, with so many innovative features that it received only three votes in the concerted IRB rush to take the World Cup to France. It will also encourage Japan, who bid for the 2011 tournament and were, in effect, told to go away and try harder; the IRB placed their under-20 world championship in Japan earlier this month and were happy with the outcome. They also recognise the growing economic significance of the whole Asia regionand believe that, with a ten-year run-in, there is no reason why the 2019 tournament should not be a wild success.