England’s pasting at the hands of the Springboks in Yokohama feels like a distant memory with preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup now in full swing. Show
The next tournament will be held in France and the major rugby nations already know the majority of opponents they will face. The draw for RWC 2023 has placed England in Pool D with Japan, Argentina and Samoa, alongside one as yet unknown qualifier. Wales face Australia and Fiji in Pool C while Scotland and Ireland are in Pool B against reigning champions South Africa. The hosts face three-time winners New Zealand as well as Six Nations opponents Italy in Pool A.
Who else will take part in 2023?The final teams in each pool will be made up of countries that will emerge via qualifying matches, including representatives from Europe, Oceania and the Americas. Route to the finalThe finals work the same way as the 2019 tournament with the first two teams in each pool progressing to the quarter-finals, which will be contested by knock-out matches. Quarter-finals:
Semi-finals:
Another England vs New Zealand semi-final?England stare down the Haka during the Rugby World Cup semi-final (Photo: Getty)If we suppose the top-ranked teams each win their pools and the second-ranked teams finish runners-up then the quarter-finals in 2023 could look something like this…
… and the semi-finals like this, just as they were in 2019…
… but there is of course a long, long way to go yet.
When is Rugby World Cup 2023?The 2023 tournament will take place between 8 September and 21 October 2023. World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “The draw is a key milestone on the journey to Rugby World Cup France 2023, and the time when the tournament truly comes to life for teams and players alike. “It enables key operational elements to be undertaken such as venue allocation, optimal match schedule development and the ticketing programme.” Wales the big winners from RWC23 rankings?Wales could prove major beneficiaries from the rankings that shaped the 2023 Rugby World Cup pool draw in Paris. The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on international rugby and its calendar in 2020 means that teams were banded on where they stood in World Rugby’s official rankings in January 2020. Positions after the autumn Tests would normally be used to form the draw bands, but teams like South Africa and Japan did not play. Announcing the change in October, the Rugby World Cup board said it “represents the fairest scenario, given it was the last time that all teams were able to play”. Wales dropped from fourth in January to ninth on the back of a year in which they won just three out of 10 games under new head coach Wayne Pivac. But they were placed in band one and not band three, therefore avoiding reigning world champions South Africa, last year’s beaten World Cup finalists England and three-time tournament winners New Zealand. While Wales find themselves among the top four seeds of the 12 automatic qualifiers for 2023, host nation France were in band two – rather than enjoying the band one status they would have had based on current rankings – while Scotland and Argentina moved from band two to band three. France, revitalised under new head coach Fabien Galthie, are moving at a rapid rate towards being major World Cup contenders in three years’ time. France were alongside Ireland, Australia and Japan – World Cup quarter-finalists last year – in band two, with Scotland, Argentina, Fiji and Italy forming band three. They will feel slightly hard done by then that they wound up with New Zealand in their group and South Africa as most likely quarter-finals opponents. Wales on the other hand should be relatively pleased to have drawn the familiar looking Australia and Fiji and they could face Japan in the quarter-finals should they top their pool. Why Jones is worried about favourable drawJones had a ‘strong gut feeling’ England would be grouped with Japan (Photo: Reuters)By Hugh Godwin, i‘s rugby union correspondent Eddie Jones has warned the fresh faces in the England squad not to get ahead of themselves after his team were drawn with Japan, Argentina and Samoa for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. Jones handed out nine new caps in 2020 – backs George Furbank, OIlie Lawrence, Max Malins and Ollie Thorley, and forwards Jonny Hill, Tom Dunn, Will Stuart, Ben Earl and Jack Willis – and won eight Tests out of nine while capturing both trophies on offer: the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup. But the head coach indicated a desire to keep the new men on their toes when he said yesterday: “Nine new caps… that’s a good progression for us. And we are going through a rebuilding phase at the moment. We have had a fairly mature side for the last four seasons, and the Lions [tour next summer] will help us evolve [while a shadow England team go to North America]. “Those young guys have got to keep working hard. You know, sometimes in England they can get too far ahead of themselves, too quickly, so we have got to make sure they keep working hard, keep making sure they become a better player and then we’ll have great competition. And the side we have for 2023, we don’t know what form that will take.” England and Wales could meet in the quarter-finals but they both avoided the fast-improving hosts France, who were in the second batch of seeds and drew New Zealand from the top tier, while Ireland and Scotland will meet for the second World Cup running, as well as facing holders South Africa in the pool. World Cup organisers said the draw was conducted almost three years ahead of time to help ensure they sell 2.6million tickets worth around £350million for the 48 matches across 10 cities, particularly with the competing attraction of the Paris Olympic Games a year later in 2024. Jones again addressed his team’s lack of attacking sharpness, this time blaming the quick turnaround between the old season that finished on 31 October and the new one less than a fortnight later. “I was watching the football on the weekend,” Jones said, “and I thought the same thing – the passing precision is just not there. We are asking footballers and our rugby players to play back-to-back seasons with no pre-season. So the chance for them to hone those fine skills haven’t been there. I’m not trying to make excuses. I think that’s the reality of it. “We want to keep on embracing pressure. We’re going to be favourites in most of the games we play and that’s something that sporadically we haven’t handled well.” Want to talk all things rugby union from Sixways to the Six Nations? Join i’s rugby forum on Facebook Where are the 2023 Rugby World Cup games being played?The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country.
Where in France is the Rugby World Cup 2023?The casting of the Rugby World Cup France 2023 in Bordeaux will be exceptional! No less than Ireland, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Georgia and South Africa will be playing at the Stade de Bordeaux during the pool stage of the competition.
Where are England playing in the 2023 Rugby World Cup?Their opening 2023 Rugby World Cup game is against Argentina in Marseille (Saturday 9 September), before playing Japan, Chile and Samoa in Pool D.
Can I buy tickets for the RWC 2023?For the first time, fans from across the world will have the opportunity to purchase tickets for individual matches to Rugby World Cup 2023. A pre-sale period of 24 hours will be reserved for members of the 2023 Family on Tuesday 13 September at 18:00 (CEST).
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