France will host a new edition of the sport’s greatest event, in which South Africa will defend the title.
Gone are the candidacies of Ireland and South Africa. The 2023 Rugby World Cup will be hosted by France and will take place in the second part of the year: from September 8 to October 28.
The locals will share Group A together with New Zealand, a known Six Nations such as Italy, Uruguay and the classic African participant: Namibia. At the Stade de France, Les Bleus against the All Blacks will kick off.
In Group B will be the defending champions, the Springboks, alongside the Clover XV, Tonga, Romania and Scotland. Three Europeans are part of this zone, an instance in which the first two pass and then the best third of each one.
Wales and Australia, rivals and already a World Cup classic at this point, will be fighting side by side to advance to the next round from Group C, which has them with Fiji, Georgia and Portugal, which comes from the playoffs.
Finally, England and Argentina command Group D, one in which they are with the rookie Chile, with ever-present Samoa and with Japan, which continues with its dream of being part of the Big 10, or the Big 11 if they are included.
As mentioned, South Africa starts defending the title and therefore is one of the favourites, since it is one of the two three-time champion teams. The others who have achieved this are the All Blacks. Europe is looking for its second title since the only one from the Northern Hemisphere that won was England in 2003.
Read More: Rugby World Cup 2023 Fixtures & Results
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