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 Africa
Last Updated: 03/10/22 1:20pm
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.
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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
| New Zealand | South Africa | Wales | England |
| France | Ireland | Australia | Japan |
| Italy | Scotland | Fiji | Argentina |
| Uruguay | Tonga | Georgia | Samoa |
| Namibia | Romania | TBC | Chile |
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.
Pool A:
- New Zealand
- France
- Italy
- Uruguay
- Namibia
Pool B:
- South Africa
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Asia/Pacific 1
- Romania
Pool C:
- Wales
- Australia
- Fiji
- Georgia
- Final qualifier winner
Pool D:
- England
- Japan
- Argentina
- Samoa
- Americas 2
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 final
The 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:
- QF 1: Winner Pool C vs Runner up Pool D
- QF 2: Winner Pool B v Runner up Pool A
- QF 3: Winner Pool D v Runner up Pool C
- QF 4: Winner Pool A v Runner up Pool B
Semi-finals:
- SF 1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
- SF 2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
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…
- Wales vs Japan
- South Africa vs France
- England vs Australia
- New Zealand vs Ireland
… and the semi-finals like this, just as they were in 2019…
- Wales vs South Africa
- England vs New Zealand
… but there is of course a long, long way to go yet.
2023 World Cup fixtures in full
- Sep 8: France vs New Zealand [Pool A] – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Sep 9: Italy vs Namibia [Pool A] – Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne
- Sep 9: Ireland vs Romania [Pool B] – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- Sep 9: Australia vs Georgia [Pool C] – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Sep 9: England vs Argentina [Pool D] – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
- Sep 10: Japan vs Americas 2 [Pool D] – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
- Sep 10: South Africa vs Scotland [Pool B] – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
- Sep 10: Wales vs Fiji [Pool C] – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- Sep 14: France vs Uruguay [Pool A] – Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
- Sep 15: New Zealand vs Namibia [Pool A] – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
- Sep 16: Samoa vs Americas 2 [Pool D] – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- Sep 16: Wales vs Final Qualifier Winner [Pool C] – Stade de Nice, Nice
- Sep 16: Ireland vs Asia / Pacific 1 [Pool B] – Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
- Sep 17: South Africa vs Romania [Pool B] – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- Sep 17: Australia vs Fiji [Pool C] – Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne
- Sep 17: England vs Japan [Pool D] – Stade de Nice, Nice
- Sep 20: Italy vs Uruguay [Pool A] – Stade de Nice, Nice
- Sep 21: France vs Namibia [Pool A] – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
- Sep 22: Argentina vs Samoa [Pool D] – Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne
- Sep 23: Europe 1 vs Final Qualifier Winner [Pool C] – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
- Sep 23: England vs Americas 2 [Pool D] – Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
- Sep 23: South Africa vs Ireland [Pool B] – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Sep 24: Scotland vs Asia / Pacific 1 [Pool B] – Stade de Nice, Nice
- Sep 24: Wales vs Australia [Pool C] – Parc OL, Lyon
- Sep 27: Uruguay vs Namibia [Pool A] – Parc OL, Lyon
- Sep 28: Japan vs Samoa [Pool D] – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
- Sep 29: New Zealand vs Italy [Pool A] – Parc OL, Lyon
- Sep 30: Argentina vs Americas 2 [Pool D] – Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
- Sep 30: Fiji vs Europe 1 [Pool C] – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- Sep 30: Scotland vs Romania [Pool B] – Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
- Oct 1: Australia vs Final Qualifier Winner [Pool C] – Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne
- Oct 1: South Africa vs Asia / Pacific 1 [Pool B] – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
- Oct 5: New Zealand vs Uruguay [Pool A] – Parc OL, Lyon
- Oct 6: France vs Italy [Pool A] – Parc OL, Lyon
- Oct 7: Wales vs Europe 1 [Pool C] – Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
- Oct 7: England vs Samoa [Pool D] – Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
- Oct 7: Ireland vs Scotland [Pool B] – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Oct 8: Japan vs Argentina [Pool D] – Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
- Oct 8: Asia / Pacific 1 vs Romania [Pool B] – Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
- Oct 8: Fiji vs Final Qualifier Winner [Pool C] – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
- Oct 14: Quarter-final 1 – Winner Pool C vs Runner-up Pool D – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
- Oct 14: Quarter-final 2 – Winner Pool B vs Runner-up Pool A – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Oct 15: Quarter-final 3 – Winner Pool D vs Runner-up Pool C – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
- Oct 15: Quarter-final 4 – Winner Pool A vs Runner-up Pool B – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Oct 20: Semi-final 1 – Winner QF 1 vs Winner QF 2 – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Oct 21: Semi-final 2 – Winner QF 3 vs Winner QF 4 – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Oct 27: Bronze final – Loser SF 1 vs Loser SF 2 – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
- Oct 28: Final – Winner SF 1 vs Winner SF 2 – Stade de France, Saint-Denis
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 draw
Jones 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.”
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