Rugby Union
2023 Rugby World Cup: All You Need To Know
The Rugby World Cup is fast approaching and is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year.
In this blog we will be telling you everything you need to know about this year’s World Cup from the dates to the rules, to the teams.
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What is the Rugby World Cup?
The Rugby World Cup is Rugby Union’s premier international rugby tournament which sees countries from across the world competing to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.
It began in 1987 and this year will be the tenth edition of the tournament as it takes place every four years.
When is the 2023 Rugby World Cup?
The 2023 Rugby World Cup will begin with the opening game which kicks off at 20:15 on Friday 8th September. The tournament will then run for over seven weeks and conclude with the final kicking off at 20:00 on Saturday 20th October.
Where is the 2023 Rugby World Cup?
The 2023 Rugby World Cup will be hosted solely in France for the first time in the tournament’s history. The tournament has previously seen matches played in France but with other matches split between the UK & Ireland.
The matches will take place in nine stadiums across nine different cities, including the Stade de France which is located just north of Paris and will host the final.
2023 Rugby World Cup Qualification and Format
20 teams will compete at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, 12 of which received automatic qualification via the last tournament: doing so by finishing in the top three in their group at the last tournament. Whilst the other eight competed in regional competitions followed by a selection of cross-regional matches to earn their place at the tournament.
The first stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup is the pool stage, where teams are split into four groups of five and will play each other in a round robin style fixture list to determine who will progress to the knockouts.
If a team finishes first or second in their pool they will qualify for the first knockout stage, the quarter-finals. the only bonus for finishing third is that all teams who finish in the top three of their pool qualify automatically for the next World Cup.
The quarter-finals will follow a first vs second format where the team who finished first in Pool A will face the second placed team in Pool B, and vice versa; the same applies for Pools C and D. the winners of these games will then enter the semi-finals, with the winners of those two matches progressing to the final where one team will win the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
These are the pools for the 2023 Rugby World Cup:
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
Who are the current Rugby World Cup Champions?
South Africa head into the 2023 Rugby World Cup as the holders after they defeated England in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final in Japan.
2019 was South Africa’s third World Cup victory and if they were to be successful at the 2023 Rugby World Cup they would become the first side to win the tournament four times, and just the second to win consecutive World Cups.
What are the odds for the 2023 Rugby World Cup?
As it stands there is no separating the top three in the betting as this is shaping up to be one of the most closely fought Rugby World Cup competitions in recent years.
New Zealand have been one of the favourites to lift the trophy at almost every World Cup and are so again at 11/4. The all blacks have been a formidable force in international Rugby for as long as the World Cup has been around and there is no change to that with this stacked Kiwi side boasting names such as Richie Mo’unga who could be pulling all the strings in a fluent All Blacks back line which could be a formidable force should they continue the form which many of their individuals showed in Super Rugby this season.
Next in as 10/3 joint-favourites are the host nation France. France’s odds may be boosted due to the fact that they will have the consistent backing of the home crowd but they a certainly not a side to be overlooked and they seem to be the northern hemisphere’s best chance of getting their hands on the Webb Ellis Cup for just the second time. French sides have dominated the Champions Cup this season and their international side possesses a perfect blend of attacking flair and defensive solidarity which makes them real contenders to overturn their 0/3 record in World Cup finals.
Reigning champions South Africa join France as second favourites at 10/3 and it is no surprise given that they will seek to defend their title with a squad that is just as strong, if not stronger not to mention that they now have the all-important element of winning experience.
With England struggling to get any sort of rhythm together in their warm-up matches they have been cast aside in the betting at 16/1, and they don’t look to offer any value at all having not put in a noteworthy performance in some time.
We like the look of Australia as the value play at this year’s tournament. The Wallabies are currently fifth in the market at 12/1 and with this looking like one of the more wide-open World Cups we have seen in a while there is no reason why 12/1 shouldn’t be considered a good price for a side that could definitely at least make the final for an each-way place. Despite his tenure as England coach coming to a disappointing end, Eddie Jones has this Australia side playing the exciting brand of rugby which saw him lead England to the 2019 final. Their price may have lengthened over the summer having not won any of their warmup games, but under a new coach they may hit their rhythm at just the right time if they pick up a win in their first game against Georgia. After losing by only three points to New Zealand in their last meeting with their local rivals, they could provide much better value than the All Blacks should they hit their stride in the pool stage.
