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Rugby World Cup 2023: France


ALL THE INFORMATION ON THE RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 IN FRANCE

The Rugby World Cup 2023 will take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023. This is scheduled to be the tenth men’s Rugby World Cup and will mark the 200th anniversary of the ‘invention’ of rugby by William Webb Ellis.

Rugby World Cup 2023

Photo Credit: World Rugby

Rugby World Cup 2023

The 2023 Rugby World Cup in France will include 16 men’s national rugby teams and the tournament is set to take place in 9 host cities – You can see the promotional video for the RWC 2023 in France here.

Japan Brave Blossoms are the only Asian representation at the Men’s RWC 2023.

Rugby Asia 247 has been confirmed as accredited media and will be in France to cover RWC 2023.

RWC 2023 Opening Ceremony

The organisers confirmed that the RWC 2023 Opening Ceremony will be broadcast in 182 countries worldwide and is expected to reach more than 10 million viewers in the host country.

Men’s Rugby World Cup Winners

  • 1987: New Zealand
  • 1991: Australia
  • 1995: South Africa
  • 1999: Australia
  • 2003: England
  • 2007: South Africa
  • 2011: New Zealand
  • 2015: New Zealand
  • 2019: South Africa
  • 2023: ?

RWC 2023 Match Schedule

The Rugby World Cup France 2023 match schedule was announced on Friday, February 26th 2021.

There are four pools of five teams with the top two teams from each pool qualifying to the knockout stages.

Some of the bigger pool matches are spread between Wednesdays to Sundays, while for the first time, Mondays and Tuesdays will be game-free.

Marseille (Stade Vélodrome) and Saint-Denis (Stade de France) will host the quarter-finals on 14-15 October 2023. The 80,000-capacity Stade de France will also host the two semi-finals on Friday 20 and Saturday, 21 October, the bronze final on Friday, 27 October and the final on Saturday, 28 October.

The full match schedule for RWC 2023 can be seen here.

Rugby World Cup 2023 France Match Schedule

RWC 2023 Pools

The pool draw for the RWC 2023 took place on 14 December 2020 at the iconic Palais Brongniart. You can find out more about the pool draw here.

Pool A RWC 2023Rugby World Cup 2023 logo

  • New Zealand
  • France
  • Italy
  • Uruguay
  • Namibia

Pool B RWC 2023

  • South Africa
  • Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Tonga (Asia/Pacific 1 Qualifier)
  • Romania*

Pool C RWC 2023

  • Wales
  • Australia
  • Fiji
  • Georgia
  • Portugal  (Final Repechage Qualifier)

Pool D RWC 2023

  • England
  • Japan
  • Argentina
  • Samoa
  • Chile

*Spain was due to be in the pool but in April 2022 they were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in qualifying.

RWC 2023 100-Day Countdown

Image Credit: RWC 2023

Qualified Teams: RWC 2023

At the start of the qualifications process, World Rugby said, “With 12 teams having secured their place at France 2023 courtesy of finishing in the top three of their respective pools at RWC 2019, the remaining eight places will be determined by a process of regional and cross-regional qualifiers.”

The process concluded with a four-team round-robin Final Qualification Tournament in November 2022 to determine the final qualifier. This was won by Portugal on 18th November 2022 in Dubai.

RWC 2023 Qualified Nations:

  • South Africa
  • England
  • New Zealand
  • Wales
  • Japan
  • France (host)
  • Australia
  • Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Italy
  • Argentina
  • Fiji
  • Samoa
  • Georgia
  • Romania *
  • Uruguay
  • Namibia
  • Chile
  • Tonga
  • Portugal

Rugby World Cup 2023 Qualifier

What Asian nations will play at RWC 2023?

Japan had already qualified for the Rugby World Cup 2023 based on their performances at the RWC 2019.

For another Asian team to qualify, they needed to win the Asian Rugby Men’s Championship 2021 and then take on the Oceania runner-up for play-off games home and away. The winner on aggregate would qualify while the loser would go to Final Qualification – Asia / Pacific 1 in the final qualification tournament in 2022.

  • Asia/Pacific: The winner of the Asian Rugby Men’s Championship 2021 (HKCR) played Oceania 2 (Tonga) away. The winner determined the qualifier and the loser went to Final Qualification – Asia / Pacific 1.
  • Hong Kong beat Korea on Saturday 9th July to claim the Asia Rugby Championship and progressed to play Tonga for the Asia/Pacific 1 spot. The match was played on the Sunshine Coast, Australia on the 23rd of July 2022.
  • Tonga won the game 44-22 and secured their spot at RWC 2023, while Hong Kong China went to the Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai.

Final Qualification Tournament – November 2022

There were four teams in the Final Qualification Tournament which took place in Dubai from November 6-18, 2022 to determine the last spot at RWC 2023 via a round-robin competition.

These teams were:

  • Portugal (Winner)
  • USA
  • Kenya
  • Hong Kong

RWC 2023 Final Qualification Tournament Fixtures

The tournament was played over three match days between the 6 -18 of November (6th, 12th, 18th) 2022 and the team which accrues the most competition points gained the final spot in Pool C at RWC 2023 – Portugal was the Repechage winner.

The match officials for the RWC 2023 Final Qualification Tournament were confirmed here.

The final placements were:

  1. Portugal
  2. USA
  3. Hong Kong
  4. Kenya

Which Match Officials Have Been Selected For Rugby World Cup 2023?

  • World Rugby announced the 26 Emirates Match Officials which consist of 12 referees, seven assistant referees and seven Television Match Officials.
  • World Rugby confirmed the RWC 2023 Disciplinary Team which comprises citing commissioners and judicial chairs and panel members.

South Africa’s Jaco Peyper will referee the Rugby World Cup 2023 opening match between hosts France and New Zealand at Stade de France on 8 September it was confirmed.

Match Officials for Rugby World Cup 2023

Image Credit: World Rugby

RWC 2023 Players’ Committee

In April 2021, a seven-person Players’ Committee was announced which will pursue several objectives at the RWC 2023. The committee includes:

  • John Eales – Former Wallaby captain and two-time RWC winner.
  • Philippe Sella -Former French international player and Hall of Fame inductee.
  • Yannick Jauzion – Former French international player.
  • Gareth Thomas – Former Welsh international player and B&I Lions Captain.
  • David Pocock – Former Australian international player.
  • Jessy Trémoulière – French player and World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Decade.
  • Iesinga Vunipola – Mother of England rugby players Mako and Billy.

How do I buy tickets for RWC 2023?

Ticketing details for the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France were first announced on 4 March 2021. 500,000 people registered for the 2023 Family presale and fans had 48 hours to confirm their selection and can make phased payments.

Fans interested in tickets for the tournament were invited to join the 2023 Family for exclusive advantages for Rugby World Cup France 2023, including pre-sale access.

  • The exclusive pre-sale period for fans who registered to join the 2023 Family ran from 15 March at 12:00 CET – 5 April 2021.
  • Official Travel and Hospitality programme sales launched on 18 March 2021.
  • The general public sale of Follow My Team and The City Pack opened on 6 April 2021 at 18:00 CET.
  • September 28-30 2021 – phase for buying single-match tickets opened up on a first-come, first-served basis (more details on the tickets available).
  • Exclusive pre-sale for Rugby World Cup 2023 Knockout packs open on 15 March (18:00 CET), 2023 Family members will be able to purchase four new types of packs, followed by a general public sale on 17 March (18:00 CET).
  • An official re-sale platform was also launched in 2022. Ticket holders have the opportunity to resell their tickets to other fans through this secured platform.
  • Individual matchday tickets for all matches went on sale in September 2022.

Resale Ticket information – RWC 2023

  • The reseller will be refunded the individual match ticket price and the refund will take place by France 2023 via bank transfer within two months after the ticket has been sold.
  • All tickets purchased in packs will be sold as individual match tickets.
  • If a reseller wishes to sell more than six tickets for the same match (bought through different sales phases), they can do so by creating two different resale posts.

You can see more here on ticket resales for Rugby World Cup 2023.

RWC 2023 Fans- What We Know

RWC 2023 was confirmed as the fastest-selling edition ever with as many as 2.5 million tickets sold and 600,000 travelling fans expected to enjoy RWC 2023 in France. That number will also be a record for a Rugby World Cup and the average duration of stay for each visitor will be 15 days.

The top 5 international visitors are expected to come from:

  1. England
  2. Ireland
  3. Australia
  4. The Netherlands
  5. New Zealand

RWC 2023 Rugby Villages

Rugby Villages will be able to host up to 40,000 RWC 2023 fans and will be open to all with free admission.

These Rugby Villages will offer a programme of activities, including live coverage of Rugby World Cup 2023 matches, live music, food and beverage, rugby activities, cultural events and children’s zones.

Rugby World Cup 2023 – Asian Official Travel Agents (OTA)

China/Hong Kong RWC 2023 OTA

  • BH Hospitality: Based in Hong Kong, BH Hospitality is part of the Byrom Group of companies that has more than 30 years of experience in providing services for large sporting events.

Japan RWC 2023 OTA

  • Nippon Travel Agency:
  • STH Japan: Sports Travel and Hospitality Japan is a leading provider of sports hospitality and premium spectator experiences in Japan. They said, “STH Japan are proud to have been appointed as an Official Travel Agent (OTA) for Rugby World Cup 2023.”
  • Tobu Top Tours: Has worked to bring a memorable experience to travellers for more than 60 years, particularly with sports events, motorsports events, corporate tours and special interest tours.

In the whole of Asia, agents from only two countries were selected. It’s not clear how many OTA’s from the region applied.

Rugby World Cup 2023 - 100 Days Countdown

Photo Credit: World Rugby

Rugby World Cup Commercial Partnerships

Rugby World Cup France 2023 Worldwide Partners include Societe Generale, Mastercard, Asahi, Capgemini, and Facebook.

In April 2021, Asahi Superdry was confirmed as the official beer of the RWC 2023 and the first Asian Commercial partner of the tournament in France.

In September 2021, Rugby World Cup 2023 announced the Capgemini and Facebook partnerships.

How to Watch RWC 2023 in Asia

In Asia, the official announcements for broadcast and streaming coverage of the RWC 2023 have been:

  • Japan – JSports, NTV, NHK
  • Southeast Asia  – BeIN Sports announced it retained the Rugby World Cup broadcast rights in Southeast Asia – and will show the matches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Philippines, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia

World Rugby announced the Rugby World Cup 2021 and 2023 broadcaster in France will be TF1 which will provide free-to-air coverage of the women’s and men’s tournaments.

Dutch pay-television broadcaster Ziggo Sports agreed on a rights deal for the Rugby World Cup 2023 with World Rugby. Ziggo signed the deal for exclusive rights in the Netherlands to the 2023 World Cup, in February 2022.

You can follow all of the official broadcast partners for Rugby World Cup 2023 here.

Official Rugby Ball of RWC 2023

In September 2021, the official Gilbert Rugby World Cup 2023 match ball’s design was unveiled. World Rugby said it “symbolises the special unity between rugby and the French host cities that will provide the welcoming backdrop to the teams and fans from across France and around the world.”

Gilbert Rugby World Cup 2023 Ball

Gilbert Rugby World Cup 2023 Ball

Official Charity of Rugby World Cup 2023

In July 2021, World Rugby confirmed Rugby au Cœur (Rugby at Heart) as the transformational Official Charity of Rugby World Cup 2023.

Rugby au Cœur aims to engage a global audience in support of sustainable development initiatives that promote health, education, gender equality, diversity and inclusion.

RWC 2023 News

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