We are now just a few months away from the 2023 Rugby World Cup. There might not have been a more exciting build up to a tournament, with it being almost pot luck who wins this tournament.

This article should be the perfect guide to help you understand the tournament coming up, as well as where you can watch the tournament.

Pool A

Teams in the Pool: France, New Zealand, Italy, Uruguay and Namibia

As the host country, France are the headline name in Pool A. This is certainly one of the groups that seems to have a very clear top two teams, with the All Blacks joining France in Pool A. The other three team’s in the pool are Italy, Uruguay and Namibia.

It seems like it is going to be very difficult for any of those three team’s to cause an upset and get past one of the big two teams. The top two team’s are some of the favourites for the World Cup, but Italy will hope that they can shock the world and cause an unlikely upset against one of the big two teams.

Having two of the World’s top four ranked team’s shows the issue with having the draw for the Rugby World Cup groups three years before the tournament. A lot can change in three years and so now, Pool A looks to be an incredibly difficult pool to get through.

But it will arguably throw up the best game of the group stage. The opening game of the tournament is set to be hosts France against New Zealand. It is a brilliant game to start the tournament and one of the games which you definitely can’t miss out on.

Pool A Fixtures and where they are held

21:00 on Friday 8^th September- France vs New Zealand, Stade de France in Paris

13:00 Saturday 9^th September- Italy vs Namibia, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne

21:00 Thursday 14^th September- France vs Uruguay, Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille 

21:00 Friday 15^th September- New Zealand vs Namibia, Stadium de Toulouse in Toulouse

17:45 Wednesday 20^th September- Italy vs Uruguay, Stade de Nice in Nice

21:00 Thursday 21^st September- France vs Namibia, Stade Velodrome in Marseille

17:45 Wednesday 27^th September- Uruguay vs Namibia Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon

21:00 Friday 29^th September- New Zealand vs Italy, Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon

21:00 Thursday 5^th October- New Zealand vs Uruguay, Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon

21:00 Friday 6^th October- France vs Italy, Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon

Pool B

Teams in Pool B: South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Tonga and Romania

Arguably the most difficult group in all of the competition, Pool B features the numbers 1,4 and 5 teams as well as a Tongan side which is on the up. Pool B shows how bad the draw can look when it is done so long before a tournament.

Ireland and South Africa are two of the favourites for the tournament and so having both of them in the same group is going to make things very interesting. They play each other in the third week of the tournament and this is likely going to be the game which decides who wins the pool.

There is also two other teams in the pool who will be desperate to cause an upset. Scotland are probably the unluckiest team in the entire draw. Despite being the fifth ranked side in the world, they are still having to face two team’s higher ranked than them in the pool. If Scotland were in Pool C or Pool D, there is a very good chance they could make it to the quarter-finals.

But this now seems very unlikely. Tonga are similarly a team to look out for. World Rugby’s change in eligibility rules means Tonga can now call on former All Blacks or Wallabies like Malakai Fekitoa, Charles Piutau, Adam Coleman and Vaea Fifita. Pool B might be the most exciting in the competition.

Pool B Fixtures and where they are held

15:30 Saturday 9^th September-Ireland vs Romania, Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux

17:45 Sunday 10^th September- South Africa vs Scotland, Stade Velodrome in Marseille

21:00 Saturday 16^th September- Ireland vs Tonga, Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes

15:00 Sunday 17^th September- South Africa vs Romania, Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux

21:00 Saturday 23^rd September- South Africa vs Ireland, Stade de France in Paris  

17:45 Sunday 24^th September- Scotland vs Tonga, Stade de Nice in Nice  

21:00 Saturday 30^th September- Scotland vs Romania, Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille

21:00 Sunday 1^st October- South Africa vs Tonga, Stade Velodrome in Marseille  

21:00 Saturday 7^th October- Ireland vs Scotland, Stade de France in Paris  

17:45 Sunday 8^th October- Tonga vs Romania, Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille  

Pool C

Teams in Pool C: Wales, Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal

On paper, there are two teams who are much stronger than the rest. If you had not watched rugby for the last four years you might think that Australia and Wales will cruise through this group but that is not going to be the case. Wales in particular are in a terrible place at the moment.

It would not be a shock to anyone if Fiji were to advance through to the Quarter-finals of the world cup for the first time since 2007. Australia seem a bit safer, heading into this World Cup very much like 2003, with Eddie Jones at the wheel.

Georgia will also hope to cause an upset, particularly considering they have also beaten Wales in the last 18 months. So Pool C could be the most even pool in the tournament.

18:00 Saturday 9^th September- Australia vs Georgia, Stade de France in Paris                                             

21:00 Sunday 10^th September- Wales vs Fiji, Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux 

17:45 Saturday 16^th September- Wales vs Portugal, Stade de Nice in Nice 

17:45 Sunday 17^th September- Australia vs Fiji, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne

14:00 Saturday 23^rd September- Georgia vs Portugal, Stadium de Toulouse in Toulouse 

21:00 Sunday 24^th September- Wales vs Australia, Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon

17:45 Saturday 30^th September- Fiji vs Georgia, Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux 

17:45 Sunday 1^st October- Australia vs Portugal, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint Etienne

15:00 Saturday 7^th October- Wales vs Georgia, Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes

21:00 Sunday 8^th October- Fiji vs Portugal, Stade de Toulouse in Toulouse

Pool D

Teams in Pool D: England, Argentina, Japan, Samoa and Chile

The final group in this tournament, Pool D features four team’s who have all been to the quarter-final stage. It is going to be incredibly interesting, with England expected to go through. But there is a huge amount uncertainty with this English team under new boss Steve Borthwick.

Argentina recently upset England, with Japan and Samoa hoping to do the same. Samoa have similarly benefitted from World Rugby’s eligibility rule changes, so will include stars like Charlie Faumuina, Lima Sopoaga and Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen.

Pool D Fixtures and where they are held

21:00 Saturday 9^th September- England vs Argentina, Stade Velodrome in Marseille 

13:00 Sunday 10^th September- Japan vs Chile, Stade de Toulouse in Toulouse 

15:00 Saturday 16^th September- Samoa vs Chile, Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux

21:00 Sunday 17^th September- England vs Japan, Stade de Nice in Nice  

17:45 Friday 22^nd September- Argentina vs Samoa, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint Etienne

17:45 Saturday 23^rd September- England vs Chile, Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille  

21:00 Thursday 28^th September- Japan vs Samoa, Stade de Toulouse in Toulouse  

15:00 Saturday 30^th September- Argentina vs Chile, Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes  

17:45 Saturday 7^th October- England vs Samoa, Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille  

13:00 Sunday 8^th October- Japan vs Argentina, Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes  

Knockout stages Fixtures

Quarter-Finals

17:00 Saturday 14^th October- Winner Pool C vs Runner-up Pool D, Stade Velodrome in Marseille

21:00 Saturday 14^th October- Winner Pool B vs Runner-up Pool A, Stade de France in Paris

17:00 Sunday 15^th October- Winner Pool D vs Runner-up Pool C, Stade Velodrome in Marseille

21:00 Sunday 15^th October- Winner Pool A vs Runner-Up Pool B, Stade de France in Paris

Semi-Finals

21:00 Friday 20^th October- Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2, Stade de France in Paris

21:00 Saturday 21^st October- Winner QF3 vs Winner QF4, Stade de France in Paris

Final

21:00 Saturday 28^th October- Winner SF1 vs Winner SF 2, Stade de France in Paris

 Where can you watch the Rugby World Cup in 2023

There are quite a few different broadcasting rights holders across the world who will be showing the games. In the UK, ITV have the rights to all of the games of the Rugby World Cup.

In the USA, NBC Sports are showing all of the Rugby World Cup games. In Australia Stan Sport is the place to watch all the games, while Nine Network are showing all of Australia’s games as well as the final. In New Zealand Sky are showing all of the games in the tournament. In South Africa, Supersport are the exclusive rights holders to the tournament.