France have been named as hosts for the 2023 Rugby World Cup after the council of the sport's governing body went against the recommendations of an extensive evaluation report in a secret ballot on Wednesday.

South Africa had been recommended by World Rugby's board but the council (made up of member nations) opted to go for France, who also hosted the tournament in 1991 and 2007.

Going into the vote in London on Wednesday, the bid from South Africa were strong favourites following the meticulous auditing process and it was widely thought that the World Rugby council would simply ratify this decision, as they have done in past votes.

However, France and Ireland both launched aggressive campaigns to sway the vote and overturn the recommendation, with the former successful in their attempts.

World Rugby president Bill Beaumont made the announcement of the 10th edition of the tournament, which also happens to coincide with the 200-year anniversary of the sport of rugby, invented by William Webb Ellis at Rugby School.

“We've been fortunate to have three great bids,” said Beaumont, who described the selection process as the “most transparent and comprehensive” in the history of the organisation.

“There's going to be two countries extremely disappointed. I am delighted for France. They have run a World Cup before and I think it will be an exciting World Cup.

“We feel for the first time that within World Rugby we have put the results of our evaluation out to the general public. Certainly delighted for France. It will be a really exciting tournament.”

South Africa said they were “bitterly disappointed” by the decision of the World Rugby council to overturn the recommendation.

“We are bitterly disappointed at this decision and would like to apologise to the people and government of South Africa for raising their hope,” said Mark Alexander, president of South Africa Rugby. “We did everything in our power to bring the tournament to South Africa.”

South Africa Rugby CEO Jurie Roux added: “World Rugby ran exhaustive, transparent process for 15 months to identify best host nation, only for the process to go entirely opaque for past two weeks. The view of the experts and World Rugby’s leadership was overturned by World Rugby Council members.”

Ireland were eliminated in the first round of voting with France taking 18 votes, South Africa 13 and the Irish eight. The votes for Ireland were then reallocated with the French running out 24-15 winners.

South Africa have not hosted the tournament since 1995, when they famously won it on home soil with Nelson Mandela handed over the Webb Ellis Cup to captain Francois Pienaar. Ireland, meanwhile, have never hosted the tournament but did stage games when Wales were hosts in 1999 and when France first staged it in 1991.