Rugby World Cup 2023 in France begins in September as nations from across the globe compete for the sport’s ultimate prize.

South Africa were the winners of the last tournament – in Japan in 2019 – when they beat England in the final, and will be among the favourites again this year. New Zealand, as ever, will be the team to beat.

However, a strong European challenge is expected, not least from the hosts France and Six Nations Grand Slam winners Ireland, who have never put their best foot forward at a World Cup.

When is it?

The tournament begins on Friday, September 8 with France taking on New Zealand. The final will be played on Saturday, October 28.

Where is it?

The 2023 Rugby World Cup will be played in France across nine stadiums in nine cities. The final will be played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Paris) on Saturday, October 28.

• Stade de France (capacity 80,698) - Saint-Denis (Paris)

• Stade Velodrome (67,394) - Marseille

• Parc Olympique Lyonnais (59,186) - Lyon

• Stade Pierre-Mauroy (50,186) - Lille

• Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux (42,115) - Bordeaux

• Stade Geoffroy-Guichard (41,965) - Saint-Étienne

• Allianz Riviera (35,624) - Nice

• Stade de la Beaujoire (35,322) - Nantes

• Stadium Municipal (33,150) - Toulouse

How do I watch it?

ITV have won the exclusive broadcast rights to show the Rugby World Cup in the UK. We will update you with specific channels for each match at the tournament once they are revealed by the broadcaster.

The radio commentary of every match will be available only on the BBC, across Radio 5 Live, 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds service. The BBC says there will be a “bespoke output” in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Amazon Prime will broadcast England’s first three World Cup warm-up games in August as well as nine other fixtures featuring other Six Nations teams.

Steve Borthwick’s team take on Wales in a home-and-away double-header before traveling to Ireland on August 19. Their final match before heading to France, against Fiji at Twickenham the following weekend, is also likely to be on Amazon Prime with scheduling issues being finalised.

The streaming service will also show warm-up games such as France welcoming Eddie Jones’ Australia.

Who is playing?

A total of 20 teams have qualified for the Rugby World Cup. These teams have been split into four pools of five, with each pool getting one team from five ‘bands’.

Band one featured the four highest-ranked teams from when the draw for the tournament was made (South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales). Band two comprised the next four highest-ranked teams (Ireland, Australia, France, Japan) and band three the four after that (Scotland, Argentina, Fiji, Italy).

Each side in the first three bands qualified automatically for the tournament owing to their world ranking, while the further two bands comprised the sides who had made it into the tournament via qualifying (Samoa, Georgia, Uruguay, Tonga, Namibia, Romania, Chile, Portugal).

Who is in what pool?

Pool A

New Zealand
France
Italy
Uruguay
Namibia

Pool B

South Africa
Ireland
Scotland
Tonga
Romania

Pool C

Wales
Australia
Fiji
Georgia
Portugal

Pool D

England
Japan
Argentina
Samoa
Chile

What are England saying about the tournament

By Daniel Schofield

Manu Tuilagi has vowed that England can beat anyone at the World Cup despite coming off another disappointing Six Nations campaign.

There was no new coach bounce under Steve Borthwick with England recording only two wins for the third successive Championship. After suffering a record 53-10 home defeat to France, England responded with a much better performance in their final game against champions Ireland, losing 29-16 after full back Freddie Steward was sent off just before halftime.

Borthwick has stated that there is a large gap between England and the elite but the fighting spirit shown at the Aviva Stadium has convinced Tuilagi that they can be true World Cup contenders, particularly with a full summer training camp.

“It just showed if we get our stuff right, our game plan, and get our house in order we can beat anyone,” Tuilagi, the Sale Sharks centre, said. “That is what we talked about in the week, if you get your house in order and make sure we do our analysis on the opposition but if we get our stuff right they have to deal with us. That was the message. For us, if we get our stuff right, we can be in contention with any team.

Rugby World Cup 2023 full fixtures and schedule

POOL MATCHES

• Friday, Sept 8 - France v New Zealand, Stade de France, 8pm GMT

• Saturday, Sept 9 - Italy v Namibia, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 12.00pm

• Saturday, Sept 9 - Ireland v Romania, Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, 2.30pm

• Saturday, Sept 9 - Australia v Georgia, Stade de France, 5pm

• Saturday, Sept 9 - England v Argentina, Stade Vélodrome, 8pm

• Sunday, Sept 10 - Japan v Chile, Stadium Municipal, 12pm

• Sunday, Sept 10 - South Africa v Scotland, Stade Vélodrome, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Sept 10 - Wales v Fiji, Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, 8pm

• Thursday, Sept 14 - France v Uruguay, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 8pm

• Friday, Sept 15 - New Zealand v Namibia, Stadium Municipal, 8pm

• Saturday, Sept 16 - Samoa v Chile, Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, 2pm

• Saturday, Sept 16 - Wales v Portugal, Allianz Riviera, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 16 - Ireland v Tonga, Stade de la Beaujoire, 8pm

• Sunday, Sept 17 - South Africa v Romania, Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, 2pm

• Sunday, Sept 17 - Australia v Fiji, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Sept 17 - England v Japan, Allianz Riviera, 8pm

• Wednesday, Sept 20 - Italy v Uruguay, Allianz Riviera, 4.45pm

• Thursday, Sept 21 - France v Namibia, Stade Vélodrome, 8pm

• Friday, Sept 22 - Argentina v Samoa, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 23 - Georgia v Portugal, Stadium Municipal, 1pm

• Saturday, Sept 23 - England v Chile, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 23 - South Africa v Ireland, Stade de France, 8pm

• Sunday, Sept 24 - Scotland v Tonga, Allianz Riviera, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Sept 24 - Wales v Australia, Parc Olympique Lyonnais, 8pm

• Wednesday, Sept 27 - Uruguay v Namibia, Parc Olympique Lyonnais, 4.45pm

• Thursday, Sept 28 - Japan v Samoa, Stadium Municipal, 8pm

• Friday, Sept 29 - New Zealand v Italy, Parc Olympique Lyonnais, 8pm

• Saturday, Sept 30 - Argentina v Chile, Stade de la Beaujoire, 2pm

• Saturday, Sept 30 - Fiji v Georgia, Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 30 - Scotland v Romania, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 8pm

• Sunday, Oct 1 - Australia v Portugal, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Oct 1 - South Africa v Tonga, Stade Vélodrome, 8pm

• Thursday, Oct 5 - New Zealand v Uruguay, Parc Olympique Lyonnais, 8pm

• Friday, Oct 6 - France v Italy, Parc Olympique Lyonnais, 8pm

• Saturday, Oct 7 - Wales v Georgia, Stade de la Beaujoire, 2pm

• Saturday, Oct 7 - England v Samoa, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Oct 7 - Ireland v Scotland, Stade de France, 8pm

• Sunday, Oct 8 - Japan v Argentina, Stade de la Beaujoire, 12pm

• Sunday, Oct 8 - Tonga v Romania, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Oct 8 - Fiji v Portugal, Stadium Municipal, 8pm

Quarter-finals

• Saturday, Oct 14 - Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D, Stade Vélodrome, 4pm

• Saturday, Oct 14 - Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A, Stade de France, 8pm

• Sunday, Oct 15 - Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C, Stade Vélodrome, 4pm

• Sunday, Oct 15 - Winner Pool 4 v Runner-up Pool B, Stade de France, 8pm

Semi-finals

• Friday, Oct 20 - Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2, Stade de France, 8pm

• Saturday, Oct 21 - Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4, Stade de France, 8pm

Bronze final

• Friday, Oct 27 - Runner-up SF 1 v Runner-up SF 2, Stade de France, 8pm

Final

• Saturday, Oct 28 - Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2, Stade de France, 8pm

Latest odds

France - 11/4
New Zealand - 3/1
Ireland - 4/1
South Africa - 9/2
England - 9/1
Australia - 9/1
Argentina - 28/1
Scotland - 38/1
Wales - 28/1

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