WEMBLEY AND THE Olympic Stadium were named among the potential venues for the 2015 Rugby World Cup as organisers revealed their long list of stadia today.

Gloucester’s Kingsholm is the only Premiership rugby ground on a list that includes Wembley, the Olympic Stadium, rugby union’s headquarters at Twickenham, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and some of the biggest club football arenas in England.

Manchester United’s Old Trafford, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, Aston Villa’s Villa Park and Southampton’s St Mary’s have all been included in the 17-stadium list.

The Amex Stadium in Brighton, Bristol City’s Ashton Gate, Pride Park in Derby, Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, Elland Road in Leeds and Stadium MK in Milton Keynes are also potential venues.

But tournament organisers sprang a surprise as Leicester Tigers’ Welford Road was missing from the list despite being the biggest club rugby ground in England.

Leicester is still represented by the town’s football club as organisers believe the King Power Stadium, with a capacity of 32,000 and better off-field facilities, is more suitable.

Critics argue the World Cup should be utilising more rugby grounds but ER2015 have to sell 2.9 million tickets in order to cover the £80 million guarantee owed to the International Rugby Board.

ER2015 will confirm the final list of 10-12 venues early in the new year, once the tournament match schedule has been formulated. The pool draw is being held on December 3 in London.