Rugby World Cup 2023: Match schedule, the groups, fixtures and odds

Jacques Nienaber, the coach of South Africa, says the defending champion are in ‘World Cup mode’ as preparations for the tournament enter the final week.

The Springboks arrived in Toulon on Sunday morning from Corsica, where they had spent a week training and acclimatising. South Africa kick off their defence of the Webb Ellis Cup against Scotland in Marseille next Sunday.

The Boks head into the tournament on the back of four successive victories, including thumping wins over Wales and New Zealand, and Nienaber said they are now “officially in World Cup mode”.

“It feels surreal to be here,” Nienaber said. “We’ve been working toward this goal for four years and we are now officially one week away from playing our first match.

“There’s a lot of excitement in the group and the team is completely aligned in terms of what we have to do if we want to be successful in France.”

England, meanwhile, go into the tournament under a cloud given that they have won only three times in nine Tests under Steve Borthwick. Their critical Pool D opener against Argentina is looming.

England do at least have a kind draw for the tournament. If they escape their pool (also containing Japan, Argentina, Samoa and Chile) they could face Wales, Australia or Fiji in the quarter-final.

When is the Rugby World Cup?

The tournament begins on Friday, September 8 with France taking on New Zealand. The final will be played on Saturday, October 28.

South Africa were the winners of the last tournament – in Japan in 2019 – when they beat England in the final, and will be among the favourites again this year, particularly after hammering New Zealand at Twickenham in their final warm-up match.

A strong European challenge is expected, not least from France, who smashed Australia in a pre-tournament warm-up, and Six Nations Grand Slam winners Ireland, who have yet to put their best foot forward at a World Cup but thrashed England in a warm-up match.

Where is it?

The 2023 Rugby World Cup will be played in France across nine stadiums in nine cities. The final will be played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Paris).

• Stade de France (capacity 80,698) – Saint-Denis, Paris

• Stade de Marseille  (67,394) – Marseille

• OL Stadium (59,186) – Lyon

• Stade Pierre-Mauroy (50,186) – Lille

• Stade de Bordeaux (42,115) – Bordeaux

• Stade Geoffroy-Guichard (41,965) – Saint-Étienne

• Stade de Nice (35,624) – Nice

• Stade de la Beaujoire (35,322) – Nantes

• Stade de Toulouse (33,150) – Toulouse

How do I watch the Rugby World Cup?

ITV have the exclusive broadcast rights in the UK. The channel for each match is listed below (the vast majority are on ITV1). You can read our guide to the 12 best pundits and commentators working at the tournament.

The radio commentary of every match will be available only on the BBC, across Radio 5 Live, 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds service. The BBC says there will be a “bespoke output” in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In the US, the tournament is being shown on NBC Sports. In South Africa the TV coverage is on SuperSport.

Amazon Prime broadcast England’s four warm-up fixtures as well as nine other warm-up fixtures featuring other Six Nations teams.

Who is playing?

A total of 20 teams qualified for the Rugby World Cup. These teams were split into four pools of five, with each pool getting one team from five ‘bands’.

Band one featured the four highest-ranked teams from when the draw for the tournament was made back in 2019 (South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales). Band two comprised the next four highest-ranked teams (Ireland, Australia, France, Japan) and band three the four after that (Scotland, Argentina, Fiji, Italy).

Each side in the first three bands qualified automatically for the tournament owing to their world ranking, while the further two bands comprised the sides who had made it into the tournament via qualifying (Samoa, Georgia, Uruguay, Tonga, Namibia, Romania, Chile, Portugal).

Who is in what pool?

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

Rugby World Cup 2023 full fixtures and schedule

All matches on ITV1 unless specified

POOL MATCHES

• Friday, Sept 8 - France v New Zealand, Stade de France, 8.15pm (BST)

• Saturday, Sept 9 - Italy v Namibia, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 12.00pm

• Saturday, Sept 9 - Ireland v Romania, Stade de Bordeaux, 2.30pm

• Saturday, Sept 9 - Australia v Georgia, Stade de France, 5pm

• Saturday, Sept 9 - England v Argentina, Stade de Marseille, 8pm

• Sunday, Sept 10 - Japan v Chile, Stade de Toulouse, 12pm

• Sunday, Sept 10 - South Africa v Scotland, Stade de Marseille, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Sept 10 - Wales v Fiji, Stade de Bordeaux, 8pm

• Thursday, Sept 14 - France v Uruguay, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 8pm

• Friday, Sept 15 - New Zealand v Namibia, Stadium de Toulouse, 8pm

• Saturday, Sept 16 - Samoa v Chile, Stade de Bordeaux, 2pm - ITV 4

• Saturday, Sept 16 - Wales v Portugal, Stade de Nice 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 16 - Ireland v Tonga, Stade de la Beaujoire, 8pm

• Sunday, Sept 17 - South Africa v Romania, Stade de Bordeaux, 2pm

• Sunday, Sept 17 - Australia v Fiji, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Sept 17 - England v Japan, Stade de Nice, 8pm

• Wednesday, Sept 20 - Italy v Uruguay, Stade de Nice, 4.45pm - ITV 4

• Thursday, Sept 21 - France v Namibia, Stade de Marseille, 8pm - ITV 4

• Friday, Sept 22 - Argentina v Samoa, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 23 - Georgia v Portugal, Stadium de Toulouse, 1pm

• Saturday, Sept 23 - England v Chile, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 23 - South Africa v Ireland, Stade de France, 8pm

• Sunday, Sept 24 - Scotland v Tonga, Stade de Nice, 4.45pm

• Sunday, Sept 24 - Wales v Australia, OL Stadium, 8pm

• Wednesday, Sept 27 - Uruguay v Namibia, OL Stadium, 4.45pm - ITV 4

• Thursday, Sept 28 - Japan v Samoa, Stade de Toulouse, 8pm - ITV 4

• Friday, Sept 29 - New Zealand v Italy, OL Stadium, 8pm

• Saturday, Sept 30 - Argentina v Chile, Stade de la Beaujoire, 2pm

• Saturday, Sept 30 - Fiji v Georgia, Stade de Bordeaux, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Sept 30 - Scotland v Romania, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 8pm

• Sunday, Oct 1 - Australia v Portugal, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, 4.45pm - ITV 4

• Sunday, Oct 1 - South Africa v Tonga, Stade de Marseille, 8pm

• Thursday, Oct 5 - New Zealand v Uruguay, OL Stadium, 8pm - ITV 4

• Friday, Oct 6 - France v Italy, OL Stadium, 8pm

• Saturday, Oct 7 - Wales v Georgia, Stade de la Beaujoire, 2pm

• Saturday, Oct 7 - England v Samoa, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 4.45pm

• Saturday, Oct 7 - Ireland v Scotland, Stade de France, 8pm

• Sunday, Oct 8 - Japan v Argentina, Stade de la Beaujoire, 12pm

• Sunday, Oct 8 - Tonga v Romania, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, 4.45pm - ITV 3

• Sunday, Oct 8 - Fiji v Portugal, Stade de Toulouse, 8pm - ITV 4

QUARTER-FINALS

• Saturday, Oct 14 - Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D, Stade de Marseille, 4pm

• Saturday, Oct 14 - Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A, Stade de France, 8pm

• Sunday, Oct 15 - Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C, Stade de Marseille, 4pm

• Sunday, Oct 15 - Winner Pool 4 v Runner-up Pool B, Stade de France, 8pm

SEMI-FINALS

• Friday, Oct 20 - Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2, Stade de France, 8pm

• Saturday, Oct 21 - Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4, Stade de France, 8pm

BRONZE-MEDAL MATCH

• Friday, Oct 27 - Runner-up SF 1 v Runner-up SF 2, Stade de France, 8pm

FINAL

• Saturday, Oct 28 - Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2, Stade de France, 8pm

England’s World Cup squad

England’s squad selection for the Rugby World Cup was severely disrupted by injuries and suspensions. Steve Borthwick named his 33-man squad on August 7. But after that date:

• Owen Farrell received a four-match ban – that rules him out of the opening two World Cup games – for a high-tackle during a warm-up match against Wales;

• Jack van Poortvliet was ruled out of the squad through injury, and replaced by Alex Mitchell;

• Billy Vunipola was suspended for three games, for a similar high tackle against Ireland, but can attend “tackle school” to reduce his ban, which means that he misses only England’s opening match of the tournament;

• Anthony Watson was sidelined by injury and replaced by Jonny May.

• Kyle Sinckler faces a race to be fit for the tournament due to a pectoral injury

You can read Will Greenwood’s verdict on the men who have been selected.

Forwards (19)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)***
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)*
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)*
Jamie George (Saracens)**
Maro Itoje (Saracens)*
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)***
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints)*
Joe Marler (Harlequins)**
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
David Ribbans (Toulon)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears)*
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens) **
Jack Walker (Harlequins)
Jack Willis (Toulouse)

Backs (14)
Henry Arundell (Racing 92)
Danny Care (Harlequins)*
Elliot Daly (Saracens)*
Owen Farrell (Saracens)**
George Ford (Sale Sharks)**
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
Max Malins (Bristol Bears)
Joe Marchant (Stade Francais)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints) – replaced by Jack van Poortvliet
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)**
Anthony Watson (unattached)** – replaced by Jonny May
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)***

*denotes number of Rugby World Cup tournaments played

Latest odds

New Zealand: 11/4
France: 7/2
South Africa: 9/2
Ireland: 5/1
Australia: 16/1
England: 16/1
Argentina: 33/1
Wales: 40/1
Scotland: 50/1

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