World Cup in England in 2015 is set to be delayed for a fortnight

• Pressure from southern hemisphere to delay tournament
• England's Premiership clubs may demand compensation
New Zealand say they lost income during their World Cup year. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

The 2015 World Cup is set to start two weeks later than the hosts, England, want so that disruption to the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship, which is replacing the Tri-Nations after the inclusion of Argentina, is kept to a minimum.

The Rugby Football Union has been pressing for a 4 September start since its bid to host the tournament was accepted, while the southern hemisphere unions preferred 25 September, but the meeting of the International Rugby Board on Tuesday is likely to accept a compromise recommendation of 18 September.

The meeting will also discuss a proposed shake-up of the way income from the World Cup is distributed. New Zealand said during last year's tournament, which they hosted, that they could not afford to take part in 2015 unless the financial model was changed.

Their stance, based on the income they lost during a World Cup year because they played fewer international matches at home and had to drop their sponsors for the tournament, caused a major split during IRB meetings last autumn.

Australia and South Africa backed New Zealand but the major European countries were opposed to any change. Domestic club tournaments in Europe and the Six Nations Championship generate considerably more income than the equivalent in the southern hemisphere.

The NZRU chief executive, Steve Tew, said last October that, unless the system was changed, the All Blacks would struggle to hold on to their leading players. Since then the IRB has thrashed out the issue and the council meeting will consider a proposal designed to boost the income of the top unions without taking anything from the tier-two countries.

The southern hemisphere unions would have demanded considerable compensation had the 2015 World Cup started on 4 September because it would have meant truncating the Rugby Championship. Last year's tournament, which began on 9 September, saw the Tri-Nations abridged after the expansion of Super Rugby to 15 teams.

The RFU had wanted its tournament to be over before the clocks went back in Britain but the final will be held on the weekend of 31 October/1 November. The two-week delay will infuriate the Aviva Premiership clubs, who are not allowed to play tournament rugby while the World Cup is on.

They will be demanding compensation from the RFU running into millions of pounds, a total that will increase as they now face an extra two weeks with no matches. Tournament regulations stipulate that no professional domestic matches may be staged in the host union during a World Cup, the reason New Zealand was stripped of its co-host status in 2003, and it could lead to the Premiership being played on a home-or-away basis that season.

London Welsh, meanwhile, who are bidding to reach the Premiership for the first time, will play the second leg of their Championship play-off final against Cornish Pirates on 30 May at Oxford United's Kassam Stadium because their Old Deer Park ground does not have floodlights.

A move to Oxford is London Welsh's first preference for a ground share should they win promotion. The Exiles will learn whether they have met the minimum standards criteria for entry into the top flight before the first leg of the Championship final next week. If the Pirates win the play-off, it will mean a reprieve in the Premiership for relegated Newcastle.

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