A range of rugby clubs, schools, universities and training centres were selected after just under 100 bids were received from venues as part of an open tender process launched in April last year.

Among them is St George's Park, which will be used by Argentina and Ireland, Pennyhill Park, which has been secured by England, and Milton Keynes and MK Dons training base, which will host Fiji and Samoa.

Eight bases have also been selected for use during the knock-out phase of the tournament, namely Celtic Manor and Newport, Swansea University, The Vale Resort, Sport Wales National Centre, Pennyhill Park, Surrey Sports Park, The Lensbury and St Mary's University and London Irish Rugby Football Club.

The team bases, which must meet international training standards, will consist of an outdoor and indoor training facility, a swimming pool, gym and hotel and will be used by the competing teams in the lead up to and during the six-week event.

Pennyhill Park will be the host nation’s main training base ©Getty Images


"As the Organising Committee for Rugby World Cup 2015 we are committed to ensuring that all participating teams have the optimum training environments available to them throughout the tournament and we are delighted to announce the 41 official team bases," England 2015 chief executive Debbie Jevans said.

"Rugby is at the heart of all our planning and we have worked closely with the teams to ensure that they have access to the best facilities and a team base that meets their individual needs.

"We are lucky to have some fantastic facilities right across the country and the enthusiasm to be part of the tournament has been really encouraging.

"We are confident that we now have 41 high quality training environments which provide a home away from home for the teams."

Bernard Lapasset, the chairman of the International Rugby Board, added that the selected team bases will help the competing nations "perform to their peak potential on Rugby's greatest stage".

The Rugby World Cup is due to take place between September 18 and October 31 next year.

The full list of team bases can be found here. 

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