Japan's new National Stadium has been ditched as the main venue for the 2019 Rugby World Cup because its proposed design will be scrapped to cut costs and it won't be ready in time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday.

The stadium, which is also set to be the centrepiece for the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo, had been scheduled to hold both the opening match and the final of the first rugby World Cup ever held in Asia.

Nothing definite was said about where the events would be held instead, but media reports said the final could be held at Yokohama's International Stadium, which hosted the 2002 soccer World Cup final between Brazil and Germany.

World Rugby, the governing body for the sport, are seeking urgent talks on the matter.

The design for the stadium has been totally scrapped and the Japanese government will start from scratch meaning the stadium will not be ready for the 2019 tournament but should be completed in time for the Toyko 2020 Games.

Building costs have spiralled to almost double the originally anticipated costs to $2bn.

The scrapped design was done by British firm Zaha Hadid Architects, who will now have the contract terminated, with the Japanese government selecting a new design before the end of 2015.

The British firm blamed spiralling costs on rising construction prices in Tokyo and also and bizarrely blamed having a fixed deadline for the project. Much of the higher construction costs can be attributed to different security regulations relating to earthquake safety procedures.

Japanese PM Abe said that he had taken on the views of the public and athletes before making the decision and has also been assured the stadium will still be in place for the Tokyo 2020 Games, meaning that only Japan 2019 will have to be restructured and hosted in different venues.

Award-winning architect Hadid also designed the Aquatic Centre for London 2012 - a project that cost $116m, three times that of the original slated cost.