Bristol City chief executive Colin Sexstone is baffled as to why Bristol has been overlooked as a match venue should England's bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup prove successful, writes Steve Cotton.

Sexstone says it is "almost inconceivable" that no matches will be played in the city should the Rugby Football Union win the right to host the tournament.

The RFU presented its bid to the International Rugby Board in Dublin yesterday – and seven club football grounds were included. But while Anfield (Liverpool), Old Trafford (Manchester United), Emirates Stadium (Arsenal), St James' Park (Newcastle), Ricoh Arena (Coventry), Elland Road (Leeds) and St Mary's (Southampton) are all on the list, there is no place for Bristol City's new 30,000-seater stadium at Ashton Vale, which is due to be open long before the tournament kicks off.

And Sexstone said: "We have never been approached by the RFU at any stage, so we didn't know they were bidding to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup until we read about it in the papers.

"As soon as we saw it, we wrote a letter to them informing them we will have a 30,000-seater stadium in Bristol by then and we would be very interesting in staging something, as we did in 1999.

"But still we have heard nothing back. It seems almost inconceivable they haven't included Bristol, because if you are talking about rugby hotbeds, Bristol and Bath are among the major rugby areas in the country."

Ashton Gate hosted a pool match when the World Cup came to England in 1999, a Jonah Lomu-inspired New Zealand beating Tonga 45-9 in front of 21,000 spectators.