Rugby World Cup 2023 guide

The Rugby World Cup 2023 is being played in France, so prep your body for a whole lot of weird sleeping habits in September and October.

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Nathan Lawrence
Sep 23, 2023
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The Rugby World Cup 2023 is here! This time, the quadrennial event is happening in France. The bad news for Wallabies supporters and rugby union lovers watching from Australia is the matches are on at some pretty rough times. Let’s dive into everything you need to know about the Rugby World Cup 2023.

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Where to stream the Rugby World Cup 2023

If you want to watch every Rugby World Cup 2023 match, you’ll need a Stan Sport subscription. Alternatively, you can catch every Wallabies match via 9Now or live on Nine.

Rugby World Cup 2023 Wallabies matches and times

The initial Rugby World Cup 2023 matches are divided into four pools with five teams in each pool. Every team plays the other pool teams once, and the Wallabies are in Pool C. Below is every Wallabies match in the qualifying rounds:

  • Australia vs Georgia: Sunday 10 September at 2:00am AEST
  • Australia vs Fiji: Monday 18 September at 1:45am AEST
  • Australia vs Wales: Monday 25 September at 5:00am AEST
  • Australia vs Portugal: Monday 2 October at 2:45am

Get ready for some late nights and early mornings if you want to catch all of the Wallabies action live.

Rugby World Cup 2023 pools

There are four pools—Pool A, Pool B, Pool C and Pool D—in the Rugby World Cup 2023, each with five teams apiece. Here’s how each Rugby World Cup 2023 pool looks, alongside their world rankings at the time of writing.

Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool A

  • New Zealand (2)
  • France (4)
  • Italy (13)
  • Uruguay (17)
  • Namibia (21)

I predict that New Zealand and France will be the top two teams in Pool A.

Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool B

  • South Africa (3)
  • Ireland (1)
  • Scotland (5)
  • Tonga (15)
  • Romania (19)

As the numbers suggest, it’s likely that Ireland and South Africa will go through to the quarterfinals.

Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool C

  • Wales (10)
  • Australia (8)
  • Fiji (9)
  • Georgia (11)
  • Portugal (16)

My money is on Australia and Wales making it through this particular pool.

Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool D

  • England (6)
  • Japan (14)
  • Argentina (7)
  • Samoa (12)
  • Chile (22)

The rankings suggest England and Argentina will top this pool but I’m backing Japan to get up against Argentina, so I’m expecting England and Japan to take out the top spots.

All Rugby World Cup 2023 matches and times

If you don’t mind dealing with incredibly irregular sleeping patterns for the length of the tournament, here’s every match time for the Rugby World Cup 2023 (bear in mind that Daylight Savings arrives on 1 October 2023).

Match
Pool
Team 1
Team 2
Date (Australia)
Time
1AFranceNew Zealand9 September5:15am AEST
2AItalyNamibia9 September9:00pm AEST
3BIrelandRomania9 September11:30pm AEST
4CAustraliaGeorgia10 September2:00am AEST
5DEnglandArgentina10 September5:00am AEST
6DJapanChile10 September9:00pm AEST
7BSouth AfricaScotland11 September1:45am AEST
8CWalesFiji11 September5:00am AEST
9AFranceUruguay15 September5:00am AEST
10ANew ZealandNamibia16 September5:00am AEST
11DSamoaChile16 September11:00pm AEST
12CWalesPortugal17 September1:45am AEST
13BIrelandTonga17 September5:00am AEST
14BSouth AfricaRomania17 September11:00pm AEST
15CAustraliaFiji18 September1:45am AEST
16DEnglandJapan18 September5:00am AEST
17AItalyUruguay21 September1:45am AEST
18AFranceNamibia22 September5:00am AEST
19DArgentinaSamoa23 September1:45am AEST
20CGeorgiaPortugal23 September10:00pm AEST
21DEnglandChile24 September1:45am AEST
22BSouth AfricaIreland24 September5:00am AEST
23BScotlandTonga25 September1:45am AEST
24CWalesAustralia25 September5:00am AEST
25AUruguayNamibia28 September1:45am AEST
26DJapanSamoa29 September5:00am AEST
27ANew ZealandItaly30 September5:00am AEST
28DArgentinaChile30 September11:00pm AEST
29CFijiGeorgia1 October1:45am AEST
30BScotlandRomania1 October6:00am AEDT
31CAustraliaPortugal2 October2:45am AEDT
32BSouth AfricaTonga2 October6:00am AEDT
33ANew ZealandUruguay6 October6:00am AEDT
34AFranceItaly7 October6:00am AEDT
35CWalesGeorgia8 October12:00am AEDT
36DEnglandSamoa8 October2:45am AEDT
37BIrelandScotland8 October6:00am AEDT
38DJapanArgentina8 October10:00pm AEDT
39BTongaRomania9 October2:45am AEDT
40CFijiPortugal9 October6:00am AEDT
41QF1Winner Pool CRunner-up Pool D15 October2:00am AEDT
42QF2Winner Pool BRunner-up Pool A15 October6:00am AEDT
43QF3Winner Pool DRunner-up Pool C16 October2:00am AEDT
44QF4Winner Pool ARunner-up Pool B16 October6:00am AEDT
45SF1Winner quarterfinal 1Winner quarterfinal 221 October6:00am AEDT
46SF2Winner quarterfinal 3Winner quarterfinal 422 October6:00am AEDT
47Bronze finalRunner-up semifinal 1Runner-up semifinal 228 October6:00am AEDT
48Grand finalWinner semifinal 1Winner semifinal 229 October6:00am AEDT

Rugby World Cup 2023 frequently asked questions

The Rugby World Cup 2023 is being played in France. The first match is on Saturday 9 September 2023 (Australian time) and the final will be held on Sunday 29 October 2023.
There are nine stadiums in nine French cities that are hosting Rugby World Cup 2023 matches:
  • Stade de Bordeaux (Bordeaux)
  • Stade Pierre Mauroy (Lille)
  • OL Stadium (Lyon)
  • Stade de Marseille (Marseille)
  • Stade de la Beaujoire (Nantes)
  • Stade de Nice (Nice)
  • Stade de France (Saint-Denis)
  • Stade Geoffroy Guichard (Saint-Étienne)
  • Stadium de Toulouse (Toulouse)
There are 20 teams separated into four pools. In each pool, every team plays against each other once. The top two teams of each pool go through to the quarterfinals, with the winner from one playing a runner-up from another. The winners of the quarterfinals square off in the semifinals, then the grand final is the two teams that win the semis.
Nathan Lawrence
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Nathan Lawrence has been banging out passionate tech and gaming words for more than 11 years. These days, you can find his work on outlets like IGN, STACK, Fandom, Red Bull and AusGamers. Nathan adores PC gaming and the proof of his first-person-shooter prowess is at the top of a Battlefield V scoreboard.