Rugby World Cup 2023
It’s the competition a huge number of our readers have been looking forward to – the Rugby World Cup 2023!
We aim to give you the lowdown on all you will need to know to stay up to date with the competition. To find out more, visit www.rugbyworldcup.com
WHEN DOES IT START?
The competition runs from 8th September - 28th October and you can watch all the matches on ITV.
Pools
So, we have the 20 best rugby teams in the world competing but who plays who first?
Portugal is the final team to make up Pool C.
Where are the matches taking place?
There are 10 host cities across France:
Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Saint-Etienne, Marseille, Saint-Denis, Toulouse.
Team Base Camps
When they are preparing for their matches, the teams have their base camps scattered across France, set out below in their pools. England are based in Le Touquet, Scotland in Nice, Wales in Versailles and Ireland will be based in Tours.
Match Schedule
How will the matches be scored?
The following number of match points will be awarded for each pool phase Match:
Win – 4 points
Draw – 2 points
Loss – 0 points
4 or more tries – 1 point
Loss by 7 points or less – 1 point
Quarter-finals
The first two teams in each pool will progress to the quarter-final round, which will be contested by knock-out matches. The quarter-final matches will be determined as follows:
QF 1 - Winner Pool C v 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
The semi-final matches will be contested by knock-out matches, as follows:
SF 1 - Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
SF 2 - Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
The winners of the semi-final matches qualify for the Final, and the losers of the semi-final matches will contest the Bronze Final.
What happens if there’s a draw at full time?
In the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, the Bronze Final and the Final, if teams are tied at full time, then the winner shall be determined as follows:
- Extra time
Following an interval of 5 minutes, extra time of 10 minutes each way (with an interval of 5 minutes) shall be played.
- Sudden death
If the scores are tied at the conclusion of Normal Extra Time, then following an interval of 5 minutes a further extra time of 10 minutes maximum shall be played. During this period the first Team to score any points shall be declared the winner;
- Kicking competition
If after this Sudden Death period no winner can be declared, a kicking competition will be organised between the two Teams. The winner of that competition shall be declared the winner of the Match.
Kicking competition – like a penalty shoot out!
Only players on the Field of Play at the time of the completion of the sudden death period may take part in the kicking competition. Each team captain must nominate five players to participate in the kicking competition and the order in which they kick must be specified to the referee by the start of the kicking competition.
The five players from each team will place kick from three different areas, all on the 22 metre line, as follows:
Position 1: directly in front of the posts will be kicker 1 from each team and kicker 4.
Position 2: on the 15 metre line on the left-hand side of the posts (determined as facing the posts) will be kicker 2 from each team and Kicker 5.
Position 3: on the 15 metre line on the right-hand side of the posts (determined as facing the posts) will be kicker 3 from each team.
Kicker 1 from each Team, from position 1
Kicker 2 from each Team, from position 2
Kicker 3 from each Team, from position 3
Kicker 4 from each Team, from position 1
Kicker 5 from each Team, from position 2
If there are an equal number of successful kicks once each team has completed its five kicks, the competition continues on a “sudden death” basis, following the same order of kickers used in the first five kicks.
Match Officials
The list of RWC Match Officials has been released and includes big names you will recognise such as Wayne Barnes (read our interview with Wayne here).
Thank you to World Rugby for the information in this article.
