The South Africa Rugby Union (SARU) has announced that it has officially entered the race to host either the 2015 or 2019 Rugby World Cups, 14 years after the country last staged the event.

South Africa will now compete with England for the right to host the 2015 tournament, following the Rugby Football Union's decision to launch its own bid on 5 May, while the Italian and Japanese governing bodies have also submitted their bids ahead of the International Rugby Board's (IRB) 8 May deadline. The bid, which has been backed by the South African government, outlines plans to use venues that have been developed in preparation for next year's Football World Cup, including the newly-refurbished 90,000-seat Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg.

Mark Alexander, SARU deputy president and bid committee chair, said: "South Africa is spending billions on upgrading our infrastructure and on venues to host the FIFA World Cup next year and the legacy of that tournament offers rugby an incredible opportunity to put on a spectacular tournament in ideal conditions. "The government has backed us every step of the way in our discussions with them and both the financial and logistical support they offer would allow a hugely successful commercial tournament to be held without any problem."

However, the Australian Rugby Union has withdrawn from the race to host either the 2015 or 2019 tournament, after it revealed that it could not afford demands issued by the IRB. Prospective bidders for the Rugby World Cup will be forced to pay the IRB a guaranteed sum of £80m in return for staging the event, which will increase to £96m for the 2019 tournament.