Who are Wales playing in Rugby World Cup 2023?
England and Wales' warm-up internationals for the 2023 Rugby World Cup have been confirmed; they will play each other twice, while Eddie Jones' England side will also face Fiji and another opponent TBC, with Wales also hosting world champions South AfricaLast Updated: 03/10/22 1:20pm Show
England and Wales will face off in two Tests next August England and Wales will fine-tune their preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France with a pair of warm-up internationals against each other. The matches will be played at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday, August 5 and Twickenham Stadium, London one week later on August 12. Wales will then host world champions South Africa in Cardiff on August 19. England will also play a warm-up Test against Fiji at Twickenham on August 26, and are to fit in another match away from home on August 19, with the opposition and venue still to be announced. The unions simultaneously announced the fixtures on Monday. Twitter Due to your consent preferences, you’re not able to view this Privacy Options The 2023 World Cup in France kicks off on September 8. Although England and Wales will not be in the same pool at the tournament, there is a possibility of them meeting at the quarter-final stage. Rugby World Cup draw
Eddie Jones' England side will open their campaign against Argentina in Marseille on September 9, while Wales' opening assignment is against Fiji in Bordeaux the following day. England’s pasting at the hands of the Springboks in Yokohama feels like a distant memory with preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup now in full swing. The next tournament will be held in France and the major rugby nations already know the majority of opponents they will face. The draw for RWC 2023 has placed England in Pool D with Japan, Argentina and Samoa, alongside one as yet unknown qualifier. Wales face Australia and Fiji in Pool C while Scotland and Ireland are in Pool B against reigning champions South Africa. The hosts face three-time winners New Zealand as well as Six Nations opponents Italy in Pool A.
Who else will take part in 2023?The final teams in each pool will be made up of countries that will emerge via qualifying matches, including representatives from Europe, Oceania and the Americas. Route to the finalThe finals work the same way as the 2019 tournament with the first two teams in each pool progressing to the quarter-finals, which will be contested by knock-out matches. Quarter-finals:
Semi-finals:
Another England vs New Zealand semi-final?England stare down the Haka during the Rugby World Cup semi-final (Photo: Getty)If we suppose the top-ranked teams each win their pools and the second-ranked teams finish runners-up then the quarter-finals in 2023 could look something like this…
… and the semi-finals like this, just as they were in 2019…
… but there is of course a long, long way to go yet.
When is Rugby World Cup 2023?The 2023 tournament will take place between 8 September and 21 October 2023. World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “The draw is a key milestone on the journey to Rugby World Cup France 2023, and the time when the tournament truly comes to life for teams and players alike. “It enables key operational elements to be undertaken such as venue allocation, optimal match schedule development and the ticketing programme.” Wales the big winners from RWC23 rankings?Wales could prove major beneficiaries from the rankings that shaped the 2023 Rugby World Cup pool draw in Paris. The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on international rugby and its calendar in 2020 means that teams were banded on where they stood in World Rugby’s official rankings in January 2020. Positions after the autumn Tests would normally be used to form the draw bands, but teams like South Africa and Japan did not play. Announcing the change in October, the Rugby World Cup board said it “represents the fairest scenario, given it was the last time that all teams were able to play”. Wales dropped from fourth in January to ninth on the back of a year in which they won just three out of 10 games under new head coach Wayne Pivac. But they were placed in band one and not band three, therefore avoiding reigning world champions South Africa, last year’s beaten World Cup finalists England and three-time tournament winners New Zealand. While Wales find themselves among the top four seeds of the 12 automatic qualifiers for 2023, host nation France were in band two – rather than enjoying the band one status they would have had based on current rankings – while Scotland and Argentina moved from band two to band three. France, revitalised under new head coach Fabien Galthie, are moving at a rapid rate towards being major World Cup contenders in three years’ time. France were alongside Ireland, Australia and Japan – World Cup quarter-finalists last year – in band two, with Scotland, Argentina, Fiji and Italy forming band three. They will feel slightly hard done by then that they wound up with New Zealand in their group and South Africa as most likely quarter-finals opponents. Wales on the other hand should be relatively pleased to have drawn the familiar looking Australia and Fiji and they could face Japan in the quarter-finals should they top their pool. Why Jones is worried about favourable drawJones had a ‘strong gut feeling’ England would be grouped with Japan (Photo: Reuters)By Hugh Godwin, i‘s rugby union correspondent Eddie Jones has warned the fresh faces in the England squad not to get ahead of themselves after his team were drawn with Japan, Argentina and Samoa for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. Jones handed out nine new caps in 2020 – backs George Furbank, OIlie Lawrence, Max Malins and Ollie Thorley, and forwards Jonny Hill, Tom Dunn, Will Stuart, Ben Earl and Jack Willis – and won eight Tests out of nine while capturing both trophies on offer: the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup. But the head coach indicated a desire to keep the new men on their toes when he said yesterday: “Nine new caps… that’s a good progression for us. And we are going through a rebuilding phase at the moment. We have had a fairly mature side for the last four seasons, and the Lions [tour next summer] will help us evolve [while a shadow England team go to North America]. “Those young guys have got to keep working hard. You know, sometimes in England they can get too far ahead of themselves, too quickly, so we have got to make sure they keep working hard, keep making sure they become a better player and then we’ll have great competition. And the side we have for 2023, we don’t know what form that will take.” England and Wales could meet in the quarter-finals but they both avoided the fast-improving hosts France, who were in the second batch of seeds and drew New Zealand from the top tier, while Ireland and Scotland will meet for the second World Cup running, as well as facing holders South Africa in the pool. World Cup organisers said the draw was conducted almost three years ahead of time to help ensure they sell 2.6million tickets worth around £350million for the 48 matches across 10 cities, particularly with the competing attraction of the Paris Olympic Games a year later in 2024. Jones again addressed his team’s lack of attacking sharpness, this time blaming the quick turnaround between the old season that finished on 31 October and the new one less than a fortnight later. “I was watching the football on the weekend,” Jones said, “and I thought the same thing – the passing precision is just not there. We are asking footballers and our rugby players to play back-to-back seasons with no pre-season. So the chance for them to hone those fine skills haven’t been there. I’m not trying to make excuses. I think that’s the reality of it. “We want to keep on embracing pressure. We’re going to be favourites in most of the games we play and that’s something that sporadically we haven’t handled well.” Want to talk all things rugby union from Sixways to the Six Nations? Join i’s rugby forum on Facebook Who will Wales play in Rugby World Cup?Wales to face reigning champions South Africa and England twice in summer World Cup warm-ups. Wales will play England twice and reigning world champions South Africa next summer as they prepare for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.. Wales will then tackle the Springboks at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 19 August.. Where is Wales based in the Rugby World Cup 2023?Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Fiji, Ireland, South Africa, Wales and Samoa are already confirmed to be playing in Bordeaux during RWC 2023, as the futuristic stadium gets ready to host five matches.
Who is most likely to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup?It can't be denied that England is one of the teams with the best chance of winning the trophy in 2023 when the Rugby World Cup is held.
What teams have qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup?Qualifying Pathway. Europe 1 & 2. Georgia Qualified for RWC 2023. Romania Qualified for RWC 2023. ... . Americas 1 & 2. Uruguay Qualified for RWC 2023. Chile Qualified for RWC 2023. ... . Oceania. Samoa Qualified for RWC 2023. View info.. Asia/Pacific. Tonga Qualified for RWC 2023. ... . Namibia Qualified for RWC 2023. View info.. FQT Winner. View info.. |