Rugby World Cup 2023

All You Need to Know About the 2023 Rugby World Cup

2023 will witness several Rugby tournaments, the most notable being the Rugby World Cup. This competition will start on the 8th of September and end on the 28th of October 2023.

Unlike previous RWC tournaments, the 2023 fields an extra week to integrate an extra rest day for player welfare. This policy, announced by World Rugby in February 2021, gives each team at least five rest days after every match-up. 

The 2023 RWC will be held in France, making it the third time they've hosted this prestigious competition. Match-ups will take place across nine stadiums at distinct locations. The biggest of these stadiums — Stade de France at Saint-Denis — has a sitting capacity of 80,000. This venue will host the opening fixture, two quarter-finals, both semi-finals, and the main final.

Other stadiums hosting RWC 2023 match-ups include:

• Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
• Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
• OL Stadium, Lyon
• Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
• Stade de la Beaujoure, Nantes
• Stade de Nice, Nice
• Stade Geoffrey Guichard, Saint-Étienne
• Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse

Reigning Champions and Favourites

South Africa is the reigning RWC champion. This Rugby team defeated England in the 2019 final to become the second Rugby nation with three RWC titles, as the New Zealand's All Blacks attained this stellar feat first. 

Sitting behind these Rugby juggernauts are Australia (two RWC titles) and England (one RWC title). It's vital to note that besides the aforementioned RWC winners, only one other Rugby national team has featured in the final — France. 

And guess what? They've lost in each of their last three finals. Ouch!

Talking about RWC favourites, France takes the top spot. If they can win the final, they'll become the third team to win the tournament whilst hosting it.

The All Blacks of New Zealand rank second in the "favourites" contest. Although they've not been at their best in recent RWC tournaments, this Rugby team remain a force to reckon with, regardless. 

Rounding up our favourites list are:

• South Africa
• Ireland
• England
• Australia

The RWC 2023: Qualified Teams

The following are teams who've qualified for the RWC 2023 tournament alongside their pools:

Pool A

• New Zealand
• France
• Italy
• Uruguay
• Namibia

Pool B

• South Africa
• Ireland
• Scotland
• Tonga
• Romania

Pool C

• Wales
• Australia
• Fiji
• Georgia
• Portugal

Pool D

• England
• Japan
• Argentina
• Samoa
• Chile

Format of the RWC 2023

The prestigious Rugby 15s event — the Rugby World Cup — will feature 20 teams divided into four distinct pools. Twelve of these teams gained an automatic qualification by earning a top-three finish in their respective pools at the 2019 Japan RWC. The remaining eight qualified from the global qualification procedure. 

The 2023 RWC hosted by France will feature 48 matches in 51 days. 

Here's how games are played:

Nations play against four teams within their pools. Note that if two pool teams are tied on point, the winner of the match where they faced off ranks higher.

Eight teams — top spot and runner-up from each pool — enter the competition's knockout round. This stage includes the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals.

The winner of each pool is tied against the runner-up of a different pool to form the quarter-finals. Nations who win their quarter-final match-ups progress to the semi-finals. Winners in the semi-finals proceed to the main final. Conversely, losers at this stage will contest for a third-place spot in the Bronze Final. 

During the knockout stage, draws after the regulatory period will lead to extra time. If there's no winner in this round, the game goes to a "sudden death" stage where the next team to score points becomes the WINNER!

Tips to Note When Betting on the 2023 Rugby World Cup

The 2023 Rugby World Cup is still months away. However, getting a grasp of betting tips to facilitate positive yielding wagering stints on RWC fixtures is essential.

If you'd like to improve your wagering results, do well to adopt these tips:

#1 Watch Out for the Favourites

As we've established, only four nations have won the revered William Webb Ellis Cup — South Africa (x3), New Zealand (x3), Australia (x2), and England (x1). 

Although you might think past performance rarely affects future results, underestimating the aforementioned teams could prove damaging to your bet slip.

Agreed, low-ranked teams could issue surprises. But by betting on the RWC favourites, especially during the early rounds where they're looking to assert their dominance, prompting winning combos is possible. 

#2 Don't Wager With Your Heart

Rugby is an emotion in multiple jurisdictions, including New Zealand. As such, it's no surprise Kiwis favour the All Blacks even when the odds are clearly against them. However, towing this route will see you make more losses than wins.

When placing bets on RWC events, always consider statistics. If you lean towards one or more teams, don't bet on them if the data is against them. 

If you feel bias will affect your decisions on several games, consider other match-ups. After all, the 2023 RWC tournament fields 48 fixtures. 

#3 Consider Home Advantage

RWC host nations are known for outperforming. Although France is an accomplished Rugby nation, they've failed to win their last three finals.

Nonetheless, the 2023 RWC provides France with the host-themed morale boost required to trump the competition. Thus, it'll be best to give them the "benefit of the doubt" and bet on them during the pool play and knockout round.

Betting Types on the 2023 Rugby World Cup

During the 2023 RWC, bettors can place wagers on the following markets:

• Match Winner
• Outright Winner or Tournament Winner
• Handicap Betting 
• Total Points
• First Try Scorer
• Win Margin
• Over/Under

Since it's still early days, Kiwis will find Outright markets on most of our recommended RWC betting sites. However, note that bookies will integrate newer and incentivising betting markets as the competition nears.

Past Rugby World Cup Winners

Here's a list of past RWC winners:

• 1987: New Zealand
• 1991: Australia
• 1995: South Africa
• 1999: Australia
• 2003: England
• 2007: South Africa
• 2011: New Zealand
• 2015: New Zealand
• 2019: South Africa