World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont has hailed Japan 2019 as "probably the greatest" Rugby World Cup in history.

The six-week tournament drew to a close with South Africa clinching their third world title by beating England in Yokohama.

France will host the event in 2023, with Beaumont also confirming that a dual bidding process will begin late next year for the 2027 and 2031 tournaments.

That would replicate the system used for 2015 and 2019, when England and Japan won staging rights.

"I think there will be lots of movement, certainly within the next 12-18 months, around fixtures. The international calendar is something that is an evolving thing."

An expansion of the World Cup from 20 to 24 teams has not been ruled out by World Rugby, although if that does happen, it would not be until 2027 at the earliest.

World Rugby's chief operating officer Alan Gilpin said: "There are a number of questions that come from moving to 24 teams.

"How do we get the next four teams competitive? There are challenges there, and we are working on the high-performance programmes across a number of unions.

"The tournament is six weeks long, it is a big window in the international rugby calendar, and we don't want to exceed that window. Going beyond six weeks would be challenging.

"It would not be for 2023, more the 2027 and 2031 process."