Venues
Australia won the right to host the World Cup in 2003 without the involvement of New Zealand after a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World Cup Limited. The overall stadium capacity was reduced from the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales.
The Adelaide Oval underwent a A$20 million redevelopment for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, financed entirely by the South Australian Cricket Association, with two new grandstands built adjacent to the Victor Richardson Gates. The Suncorp Stadium was a new A$280 million venue designed specifically for rugby, and was opened just before the start of the 2003 World Cup. The Central Coast Stadium was also a newly built venue, and opened in February 2000 at a cost of A$30 million.
Aussie Stadium was one of two venues in Sydney that were used for football during the 2000 Olympic Games. The other venue in Sydney was the Telstra Stadium which was the centrepiece of the 2000 Olympic Games. Formerly known as Stadium Australia, Telstra Stadium was built at a cost of over A$600 million and was the biggest stadium used in the 2003 World Cup. The only stadium with a retractable roof used was the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.
| Stadium | Games | City | State | Capacity | Best Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telstra Stadium | 7 | Sydney | New South Wales | 83,500 | 82,957 (Final: Australia vs England) |
| Aussie Stadium | 5 | Sydney | New South Wales | 41,159 | 37,137 (Scotland vs. Fiji) |
| Central Coast Stadium | 3 | Gosford | New South Wales | 20,119 | 19,653 (Japan vs. United States) |
| WIN Stadium | 2 | Wollongong | New South Wales | 18,484 | 17,833 (France vs. United States) |
| Suncorp Stadium | 9 | Brisbane | Queensland | 52,500 | 48,778 (Australia vs. Romania) |
| Dairy Farmers Stadium | 3 | Townsville | Queensland | 24,843 | 21,309 (France vs. Japan) |
| Telstra Dome | 7 | Melbourne | Victoria | 53,371 | 54,206 (Australia vs. Ireland) |
| Subiaco Oval | 5 | Perth | Western Australia | 42,922 | 38,834 (South Africa vs. England) |
| Canberra Stadium | 4 | Canberra | Australian Capital Territory | 24,647 | 22,641 (Italy vs. Wales) |
| Adelaide Oval | 2 | Adelaide | South Australia | 33,597 | 33,000 (Australia vs. Namibia) |
| York Park | 1 | Launceston | Tasmania | 19,891 | 15,457 (Namibia vs. Romania) |
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