The RFU announced today that it had received strong interest from developing unions in its two tiered RWC 2007 proposals due to be considered by the IRB Council this week.

Graeme Cattermole, Chairman of the RFU Management Board said "We have been hugely encouraged by the response from the global game to our 'Preferred Option' proposal.

"The vast majority of those requesting the information come from IRB members who would be eligible to take part in the RWNC. The tournament would provide an excellent showcase for developing nations, save the IRB considerable money from qualifying games, which could be re-invested in the development of the game and provide direct access to the RWC for the winners. The savings could also be used by other unions to develop the game in their own countries. This initiative underpins the RFUs declared commitment to support and assist the IRB in the development of the game in the non-foundation unions world-wide."

Francis Baron; Chief Executive of the RFU said "We've received a great deal of interest from a number of developing unions in our 'Preferred Option' bid proposals of a two tournament structure of 16 teams in the Rugby World Cup and a 32 team Rugby World Nations Cup.

"To date 24 developing unions have requested copies of our proposals. These are in addition to the voting unions, who we have met with a series of presentations over the last two weeks, which concluded with Ireland on Friday. Further requests for information are being received on a daily basis."

The 24 nations to have requested a copy of the RFU's proposals are: Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Cook Islands, Denmark, Fiji, FIRA - AER, Germany, Guyana, Hong Kong, Israel, Kenya, Italy, Malta, Namibia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, St. Lucia, Tonga, Uruguay, USA, Zimbabwe.