Mystery over rugby league final venue

Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium was yesterday unveiled as the starting point for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup but organisers left a huge question mark over where it will finish.

The Rugby Football League published the venues for all but three of the 28 fixtures, delaying an announcement over the climax to the tournament. Wembley is thought to be favourite to host both semi-finals on the weekend of 23-24 November, with the final a week later set to go to Old Trafford, but tournament director Richard Lewis hinted at a late entrant to the bidding process in explaining the “slight delay”.

“For entirely positive reasons, we decided to concentrate on announcing the opening ceremony and double-header in Cardiff which is fabulous news,” Lewis said. “We know where we’re at with the tournament. The process has been going for 12 months and we’re pleased with where we’re at. We’re in a really good position. We run a very competitive process. We’re going to be announcing the venues for the semi-finals and final very soon.”

The tournament starts on 26 October. Scotland’s group C games against Tonga and Italy will be played at the planned new stadium in Whitehaven. .