Northampton Saints have confirmed the club will not offer Franklin’s Gardens as a Rugby World Cup training base, but plan to continue to support Milton Keynes as a tournament host venue.
The news comes after Northampton Saints “wholeheartedly” backed the bid to bring the showpiece tournament to Milton Keynes last year, after Franklin’s Gardens was deemed as too small to host matches.
This morning, stadiummk was revealed as the host for three matches in 2015.
Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo from stadiummk, Allan Robson, Saints chief executive, also ruled out the prospect of Franklin’s Gardens acting as a training base for international sides.
He confirmed the club did hold initial discussions with organisers about potentially using the ground as a base during the tournament, but he revealed the criteria set down by organisers would have jeopardised the chances of the Saints in the 2015/16 season.
The tournament will be held at the same time as the regular domestic season.
Mr Robson (pictured) said: “We believe it would be a disadvantage for our club.
“We can’t afford to give up our ground to whoever is in the local Rugby World Cup pool and potentially jeopardise the Saints’ chances of success that season.”
However, he said the club was keen to work with bosses at stadiummk to make sure the tournament is a success.
Mr Robson added: “We would have loved to have the Rugby World Cup at Franklin’s Gardens, but we have to be realistic.
“The Rugby World Cup is a big commercial operation and they need it to be a profit making enterprise, they have to fill the grounds and bring commercial revenue in.
“But Milton Keynes is 25 minutes down the road. A lot of our supporters live in Milton Keynes and quite a few work there.
“It is very, very local. A lot of our supporters have an association with Milton Keynes and of those that don’t, most of will have gone to one of the matches we have held at stadiummk.
“I would like to think there is some sort of affinity for stadiummk.”
He added: “We said we would support Milton Keynes all the way, it has been a very good stadium for us to play at, it is very close to Northampton.
“Rugby is our game, we do have that expertise and rugby supporters are different to football supporters.
“There is a culture to rugby and Milton Keynes Dons don’t pretend to understand the game as we do. We have been tremendous partners in the past and we will help them to bring the best Rugby World Cup activities to the area.”
The 13 venues selected are: Twickenham (10 matches); Wembley Stadium (two matches); Olympic Stadium (five matches); Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (eight matches); Etihad Stadium, Manchester (one match); St James’ Park, Newcastle (three matches); Elland Road, Leeds (two matches); King Power Stadium, Leicester (three matches); Villa Park, Birmingham (two matches); Kingsholm, Gloucester (four matches); stadiummk, Milton Keynes (three matches); Amex Stadium, Brighton (two matches) and Sandy Park, Exeter (three matches).
Tickets for the 48-match tournament will go on sale next year.