* Japan PM scraps existing plans for new national stadium
* Delays mean stadium won't be ready to host 2019 RWC
* World Rugby officials "disappointed"
By Julian Linden
SINGAPORE, July 17 (Reuters) - World Rugby officials are seeking urgent talks with organisers of the 2019 rugby World Cup following Friday's surprise announcement that Japan's proposed new national stadium won't be ready in time for the tournament.
The 80,000-seat stadium in Tokyo, which is also the centrepiece of the 2020 Olympics, was scheduled to host the biggest matches in 2019, including the opening game and the final of the first rugby World Cup awarded to Asia.
But those plans were all thrown out the window on Friday when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the original stadium design was being scrapped because of escalating costs. ID:nL4N0ZX2EN
With construction yet to begin and the project now on hold while the Japanese government decides on a cheaper model, Abe conceded the stadium would not be ready for the rugby World Cup.
"We will not make it in time," Abe told a news conference.
Friday's shock announcement seemingly caught World Rugby officials by surprise, coming just months after they had publicly announced that the new Tokyo stadium would host the final.
"World Rugby is extremely disappointed by today's announcement that the new National Stadium will not be ready to host Rugby World Cup 2019 matches despite repeated assurances to contrary from the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee and Japan Sports Council," World Rugby said in a statement on Friday.
"The National Stadium was a compelling and important pillar of Japan's successful bid to host Rugby World Cup 2019, which was awarded to the Japan Rugby Football Union in 2009."
Japan spent years lobbying to become the first Asian country to be awarded the right to host the rugby World Cup, which began in 1987 and has been played every four years since.
This year's tournament will be held in England and Wales.
Japan's supporters accused the sport's bosses of rotating rugby's biggest spectacle amongst the game's traditional powers and vowed to take the sport into the world's fastest developing markets.
"World Rugby is urgently seeking further detailed clarification from the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee and will need to consider the options relating to the impact of today's announcement," World Rugby said in a statement.
The most likely replacement venue for the final is Yokohama's International Stadium, which hosted the 2002 soccer World Cup final between Brazil and Germany.
Yokohama's 72,000-seat stadium was not on the original shortlist of venues bidding to host matches but World Rugby officials agreed late last year to accept a late application from Yokohama and the Kanagawa Prefecture.
The proposed new national stadium was one of 12 cities picked to host matches at the tournament, which will be played between Sept. 6 and Nov 20, 2019.
There was no announcement from either the Japanese organisers or the government on whether they will look for an existing stadium in Tokyo or another city outside the capital to fill the void.
Hong Kong and Singapore both initially asked if they could host matches but their requests were rejected. (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)