World Rugby is to consider a radical overhaul of the bidding process to host future World Cups that could open the door for smaller nations, such as Ireland, to stage the tournament.

One option could be to combine voting on up to three future tournaments at once, with at least one being awarded to a country for “developmental” reasons to help grow the game.

The move comes amid concerns that bids could be dominated by hosts offering the most lucrative terms in the wake of France’s shock victory over Ireland and South Africa to host the 2023 tournament in a secret ballot last November. Ireland had been the early favourite but ended up being eliminated in the first round of the ballot.

An independent review of the three bids led to the World Rugby board recommending the South African bid to its council but the majority of votes went to the French bid, which offered a guaranteed net revenue return of £350 million.

In contrast, the bids from Ireland and South Africa were expected to generate about £270 million for World Rugby, while the independent report had marked the Irish bid down significantly in terms of stadiums and infrastructure.