IT was great to read in the Echo on Tuesday that St Mary's has been included in the list of stadia the RFU will use if their bid to host the 2007 World Cup is successful.

If Southampton does get the chance to host a World Cup match, it will offer the rugby starved people of the south coast their first opportunity of international rugby on their doorstep.

The plan, which would see at least one match played at St Mary's, would act as a focal point, from which rugby could be presented to not only to the Southampton rugby public, but also to the general Hampshire sporting fraternity.

Rugby is certainly not the number one sport in the county. The nearest top-flight rugby club would be either Bath in the west or one of the London-based clubs, such as Harlequins or London Irish, who play at the Madejski Stadium in Reading.

As Budge Pountney, the Southampton-born Scotland rugby captain stated last season, Hampshire and Southampton have football and even water sports.

Hence the reason there is no Premiership rugby club within 50 miles, whereas the Midlands, for instance, has no such sailing distractions.

A chance to sample international rugby would give those who ply their Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings on the park grounds a comfortable seat near to home and that rare sight of Australia, New Zealand or even England maybe right here in the south. International rugby has never been played in Hampshire before, with the exception of junior or student games at US Portsmouth or Christchurch.

The last time one of the rugby super powers played in this area was in 1966, when South Africa visited Bournemouth to play 'The South East'.

What a match at St Mary's would also offer is the opportunity to see top class players'train.

The norm is for the visiting nation to 'pick a base' from where they would practise before the international itself.

As we all saw when the England football team played last week at St Mary's against Macedonia, the hubbub of interest was vast.

There is no reason why it would not be the same for a Rugby World Cup match in 2007.

It would not be the first time a Southampton football ground has hosted international rugby either. On November 8, 1947, a combined Hampshire and Sussex team played Australia at The Dell and lost 14-5. It sold the game then, as well.

Bringing World Cup Rugby would act as a huge boost to the city and a huge boost to rugby in Hampshire, whilst attracting more players to the game and to the clubs.

"Bring it on," said a member of the Southampton RFC. "It would be absolute heaven, regardless of who was playing.

"International rugby in Southampton - that would be tremendous."