France is preparing to host the Rugby World Cup for the second time. The competition will begin on September 8 with the clash between the XV of France and New Zealand. Less than two weeks before the start of the tournament, Le 10 Sport details everything you need to know.
The wait is coming to an end. Since November 15, 2017, France has known it will have the heavy task of hosting the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the tenth in history. Next Friday, September 8, at the Stade de France, the competition will officially begin with the match between Fabien Galthié ‘s XV de France and Ian Foster’s New Zealand—the beginning of a long tournament of almost two months.
Dates for the 2023 Rugby World Cup
As written above, the 2023 Rugby World Cup kicks off on Friday, September 8. A date that marks the start of the group stage, which will last a month, with the opening clash France – New Zealand to end with Fiji – Portugal on October 8.
The quarter-finals will begin on October 14 at 5 p.m. with the match between the 1st in Group C and the 2nd in Group D, followed at 9 p.m. by the second between the 1st in Group B and the 2nd in Group A. The next day, Sunday, October 15, the last two quarter-finals will be played. The first, at 5 p.m., will oppose the 1st of group D against the 2nd of group C before concluding at 9 p.m. with the 1st of group A, potentially the XV of France, against the 2nd of group B.
The first semi-final will oppose the winners of the first two quarter-finals and will be played on Friday, October 20, at 8 p.m. Finally, the winners of the third and fourth quarter-finals will compete for the last ticket for the final on Saturday, October 21, at 9 p.m. The losers will meet on Friday, October 27, at 9 p.m. for the third-place match before the grand final on Saturday, October 28, at 9 p.m.
In brief:
- From September 8 to October 8: Group stage
- October 14 and 15: quarter-finals
- October 20 and 21:semi-finals
- October 27: Match for 3rd place
- October 28: Final
The matches of the XV of France:
- September 8, 9:15 p.m.: France – New Zealand
- September 14, 9 p.m.: France – Uruguay
- September 21, 9 p.m.: France – Namibia
- October 6, 9 p.m.: France – Italy
Rugby World Cup 2023 stadiums
Saint-Denis, Marseille, Lille, Lyon, Nice, Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Saint-Etienne will have the honor of hosting matches of the 2023 Rugby World Cup with their respective Stadium, namely the Stade de France, the Vélodrome, the Pierre Mauroy Stadium, the Groupama-Stadium, the Allianz Riviera, La Beaujoire, the Matmut-Atlantique, the Stadium and finally Geoffroy-Guichard.
– Stade de France(capacity 80,000), Saint-Denis: The Dionysian enclosure will host the most important matches of the tournament, including two of the four quarter-finals, the two semi-finals, the game for third place, and the final.
– Stade Vélodrome (cap. 67,000), Marseille: OM‘s stronghold has also been spoiled. The Olympian volcano will host six matches, including two quarter-finals.
– Stade Pierre Mauroy (cap. 50,000), Lille: The headquarters of LOSC will host 5 group stage matches this year and will see big nations such as France, England, and Scotland.
– Groupama Stadium(cap. 59,000), Lyon: The usual home of OL will take on a new look for this World Cup, where five pool matches will be played.
– Allianz Riviera (cap. 34,500), Nice: The OGC Nice stadium will host 4 group stage matches.
– La Beaujoire (cap. 37,000), Nantes: Built in 1984, the FC Nantes stadium will host 4 group stage matches.
– Matmut-Atlantique (cap. 42,000), Bordeaux: The Girondins de Bordeaux will see 5 group matches played in their setting.
– Stadium (cap. 33,000), Toulouse: The Rugby World Cup had to go through Toulouse. The Téfécé stadium will host five group-stage matches.
– Geoffroy-Guichard (cap. 41,900), Saint-Etienne: Le Chaudron will be the scene of 4 group matches in this World Cup.
The teams present
A total of 20 nations will compete for the Webb Ellis Trophy. We logically find the host country, France, as well as England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Portugal, Georgia, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Japan, Namibia, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.
They can win the competition.
Among them, some leave with more certainty than others. Among the favorites, we find New Zealand, given the winner by the British bookmakers ahead of France, South Africa, and Ireland. They are simply the four best nations on the planet if we refer to the World Rugby rankings. Carried by its public and led by a golden generation, France is the most awaited team in this tournament. She will have to face New Zealand as always, third in 2019 and more vengeful than ever. It will logically be necessary to count on South Africa, the defending champion, and Ireland, which achieved the Grand Slam at the last VI Nations Tournament.
The underdog teams
It won’t be easy to create a surprise this year, but you never know what sport has in store for you. Behind the four huge favorites stands a list of as many outsiders. The unfortunate finalist of the last edition, England arrives much less well-armed than four years ago but remains a leading nation of the oval ball, in the same way as Australia. The Wallabies are going through a difficult period, but they are coached by the very experienced Eddie Jones, a two-time World Cup finalist (2003 with Australia and 2019 with England ). Narrowly beaten in preparation against South Africa, Argentina could also cause problems for the nations supposedly stronger on paper. Finally, Scotland could also have a say. The XV du Chardon has recently given the XV of France a hard time.
The top players present at the 2023 Rugby World Cup
What would a World Cup be without its host of stars? The best players on the planet will be there in France. The Blues captain, Antoine Dupont, will be there, as well as Grégory Alldritt or Thomas Ramos. New Zealand can count on Ardie Savea or Beauden Barrett, twice voted the best player in the world. A distinction currently held by the Irish third-line Josh Van Der Flier, who will try to lead the XV of Clover to the world title just like the indestructible Jonathan Sexton. England will undoubtedly rely on their star Mauro Itoje during a crisis as their fly-half Owen Farrell will miss the first two meetings. For South Africa, Cheslin Kolbe and captain Siya Kolisi will be there to try to defend their title. Voted the best player in the world in 2019, Pieter-Steph du Toit was also called up by Jacques Nienaber. Very fit lately, the Scots Finn Russell and Duhan van der Merwe will tread the lawns of the hexagon just like the Italian Ange Capuozzowhich could reveal itself to the general public.
The main absentees from the 2023 Rugby World Cup
Like Romain Ntamack, many players will miss the next World Cup. On the English side, Jack Van Poortvliet, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Alex Dombrandt, and Henry Slade are missing. Defending champions South Africa will do without Handré Pollard, Lukhanyo Am, and Lood de Jager. Wales is the victim of a carnage. Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, and Josh Navidiretired, as did Scotsman Stuart Hogg, while captain Ken Owens injured himself in preparation. The Italians Edoardo Padovani, Tommaso Menoncello, Gianmarco Lucchesi, and Jake Polledri were forced to give up the World Cup like the two All-Blacks Seevu Reece and George Bower. Australia will do it without Allan Alaalatoa, injured, and without Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper, dismissed by Eddie Jones.
TV broadcast
The TF1 Group will be the sole holder of the rights to this 2023 Rugby World Cup, but the 48 matches will not all be broadcast on this channel. Indeed, the group has dismissed 28 matches at France Télévisions (10 games) and M6 (18 games). TF1 kept the monopoly on the XV of France since all the Blues matches will be broadcast on this channel except the meeting against Namibia, which returned to France Televisions. Here is the complete TV Channel List.
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