England and Wales clash over World Cup match-up

Within a few hours of the 2015 World Cup draw being made, the Welsh Rugby Union launched an audacious bid to stage their 2015 World Cup pool matches against host nation England and Australia at the Millennium Stadium.

That suggestion has sparked outrage - and a newspaper headline complaining of a "Welsh plot" - and even England coach Stuart Lancaster has been drawn into the arguing.

As host nation for the tournament, England would expect all their group matches to be played at Twickenham, home of the game and the headquarters of the RFU.

But WRU chief executive Roger Lewis argued that Wales's role in hosting several matches had been part of the tournament's plan from the start.

"It is very important to remember that Wales was included in England's bid," he said. "The UK treasury supported the under-writing of the competition and of course Wales is still part of the United Kingdom.

"We would be very welcoming hosts," he added cheekily. "I think they (England) would embrace the opportunity to play in the finest rugby stadium in the world."

World Cup organisers England Rugby 2015 - who are independent from the RFU - have refused to rule anything out, with chief executive Debbie Jevans saying diplomatically of Lewis, "It's very kind of him to invite us," and insisting that they will do "what is right for the competition".

Though the arguments and counter-arguments all seem fairly tongue-in-cheek, England coach Lancaster marched into the argument with a slightly po-faced reaction.

"Clearly from our point of view Twickenham would be our preferred venue," he said. "What home advantage did for the Olympians is a great example of how it inspires people to an extra five or 10 per cent and sometimes at this level that's what's needed."

RFU chief Ian Ritchie got into the spirit of the cheeky Welsh suggestion with his own tongue-in-cheek response.

"We have a very nice home of our own and I would hope very much we would contemplate playing the match here," said Ritchie, who is overseeing a £76 million upgrade of Twickenham.

"With our modest little stadium here at Twickenham, with the further investment we might be able to make it into a decent spot to play rugby.

"We equally believe we are very good hosts here and that we could hold a decent game here and would very much want to do that. Shock, horror and astonishment that I would suggest that!"

England last hosted the tournament back in 1991, when the Will Carling-led side made it to the final at Twickenham before losing out to Australia.

That year, however, they were forced to play two matches away from their home: after losing their opening pool stage match to New Zealand, they beat France in Paris and Scotland at Murrayfield (with Gavin Hastings famously missing a penalty in front of the posts) before returning to London for the final.

Wales hosted the tournament in 1999, where both they and England went out at the quarter-final stage.