The Rugby Football Union yesterday confirmed it will submit a bid to host the World Cup in 2015 - a bid which could see games played in Bristol.

Their decision to compete for the tournament may open the way for pool games to be played at Bristol City's new stadium, which is hoped to be completed by 2012.

Details of the bid will be made public after it is presented to the International Rugby Board council in Dublin next Wednesday.

The RFU's five-strong Dublin delegation will include 2003 World Cup winners Lawrence Dallaglio and Will Greenwood, plus Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport.

England hosted the 1991 World Cup along with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron said: "We believe it is time that we brought the tournament back to England and are confident we would be able to provide the best platform to profile the sport on the world stage and enable us to make a lasting commitment to grassroots rugby."

Only last week, Baron spoke of the "big, big commitment" to bid for rugby union's eighth global spectacular, underlined by the £80 million guarantee demanded by the IRB.

Ireland and Scotland recently pulled out of any co-hosting bid with the RFU, while yesterday's announcement comes after Twickenham's emphatic failure to stage the 2007 World Cup, having lost by a landslide margin to France.

The Government and the RFU have agreed a support package though, and Burnham said: "England 2015 would be a superb addition to a great decade of sport in Britain.

"The RFU has pulled together an outstanding bid that will take the game to new audiences.

"It has the government's full support and we will now work with them to make the case for it."

Bristol has played host to pool games in a previous rugby World Cup.

The All Blacks came to Ashton Gate in 1999 where they beat Tonga 45-9 in front of 21,000 fans.

Bristol City's new stadium, which is hoped will be completed by 2012, will hold 30,000 fans and could even be extended to 42,000 should England win the bid to stage the 2018 football World Cup.

It would be these sort of attendance figures which would make more financial sense to the RFU, according to Alastair Hignell, Evening Post rugby columnist.

He said: "It would be a fantastic draw and a great way of celebrating Bristol's new stadium.

"With a capacity in excess of 30,000, the new Bristol City stadium would be big enough and certainly in the right part of the country to host one of the pool games if England were to win the 2015 bid.

"The RFU have been waiting on the Government to give them their backing which has now been announced.

"The IRB told the RFU initially that they wanted them to put up £100 million up front which was amended to £80 million in the current financial climate.

"To get that £80 million back, the RFU have to make sure that they can sell enough seats and that means going to the big stadiums in the later stages such as Twickenham, Wembley and Old Trafford.

"But there is still scope for smaller venues to hold pool games and that is where Bristol will come into the equation.

"We've already seen the city hold games before and with a 30,000-plus new stadium it should be in with a shout this time around.

"It will be up against some strong contenders such as the Madejski Stadium in Reading, which already plays host to London Irish, and the Walkers Stadium in Leicester which is holding this weekend's Guinness Premiership semi-final."

Former England captain Dallaglio has already added his weight to the bid.

He said: "The drama of the tournament can only be matched by the passion of people for sport in England.

"Putting the two together at world-class venues like Twickenham, Wembley, Old Trafford and the Millennium Stadium will produce the ultimate rugby event."