Scotland Rugby has pulled out of the race to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015, scuppering any lingering hopes for a combined bid from the four home nations.

Both the Scottish Government and national events agency Event Scotland announced their support for the proposals in July 2008, but an agreement could not be reached between Scotland Rugby and the three other governing bodies - Wales, Ireland and England - to finance the bid. Hopes of a joint bid were further dashed in February, when Rugby Football Union (RFU) chair Martyn Thomas confirmed that England was looking to launch a solo bid to host the event for the first time since 1991.

Gordon McKie, chief executive of Scotland Rugby, said: "We have always stated that we believe a four home Unions bid would have been strong bid and one which would have been positively received by world rugby."