The French Rugby Federation (FFR) based their proposal on the stadiums used for the successful 1998 football World Cup and the proven excellence of its transport system.

France's victory in winning the right to host the tournament was at the expense of England, whose bid involved separate competitions for 16 major and 32 minor nations.

The event will run from 7 September to 20 October to avoid clashing with other major sporting occasions such as tennis' French Open and Wimbledon, the British Open golf, Tour de France cycling and five Formula One grands prix.

The teams will be split into four five-team pools with the top two sides in each group progressing to the quarter-finals.

Games will be played in Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lens, Lyon, Saint Etienne, Marseille, Montpellier and the Stade de France and Parc des Princes in Paris.

Pool matches will also be staged in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. One of the quarter-finals will also be held in Cardiff.

The Stade de France will stage two quarter-finals, with the other two being played at Cardiff and Marseille.

Both semi-finals, final and third place play-off would be staged at the 80,000-capacity Stade de France.

France, Scotland, Ireland and Wales were given matches when England hosted the 1991 World Cup and the first three plus England were given matches when Wales staged the 1999 tournament.

Stadia will be free of advertising, with virtual advertising used to get round laws preventing alcohol and tobacco advertising in places open to the public.

The FFR plans to use a ticketing tool named Oracle which will allow the 2,447,000 tickets to be sold across the world.

England's failed bid

"We don't want the World Cup to be the sole affair of professional rugby," said former French captain Jean-Pierre Rives, who will be co-president of the French organising committee.

"I want all the rugby nations and all the rugby people from professionals to the kids running on the countryside or suburban pitches to be involved."