Where is the Rugby World Cup 2023 schedule? The Stade de France will host this year’s Rugby World Cup final. The Stade de France will host the opening games between France and the All Blacks, two quarterfinals, the two semifinals and the final, while the Stade de Marseille is the only other venue hosting knockout games The All Blacks arrive as one of the favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for what would be a record fourth time, having won the Rugby Championship in convincing fashion – although they were thrashed by South Africa in their final warm-up game. Hosts France can be sensational on their day and it is set to be the perfect showdown to kickstart the seven-week tournament. The fixture schedule sees Six Nations champions Ireland, Eddie Jones’ struggling Australia and England all get their campaigns under way the following day, with Steve Borthwick’s side undertaking a tricky assignment of facing in-form Argentina in Marseille, in what is likely to be a decisive Pool D match. Date Date Fixture Pool Venue Kick-off time Fri, Sep 8, 2023 France vs New Zealand Pool A Paris 8:15pm BST Sat, Sep 9, 2023 Italy vs Namibia Pool A Saint-Etienne 12pm Sat, Sep 9, 2023 Ireland vs Romania Pool B Bordeaux 2.30pm Sat, Sep 9, 2023 Australia vs Georgia Pool C Paris 5pm Sat, Sep 9, 2023 England vs Argentina Pool D Marseille 8pm Sun, Sep 10, 2023 Japan vs Chile Pool D Toulouse 12pm Sun, Sep 10, 2023 South Africa vs Scotland Pool B Marseille 4.45pm Sun, Sep 10, 2023 Wales vs Fiji Pool C Bordeaux 8pm Thu, Sep 14, 2023 France vs Uruguay Pool A Lille 8pm Fri, Sep 15, 2023 New Zealand vs Namibia Pool A Toulouse 8pm Sat, Sep 16, 2023 Samoa vs Chile Pool D Bordeaux 2pm Sat, Sep 16, 2023 Wales vs Portugal Pool C Nice 4.45pm Sat, Sep 16, 2023 Ireland vs Tonga Pool B Nantes 8pm Sun, Sep 17, 2023 South Africa vs Romania Pool B Bordeaux 2pm Sun, Sep 17, 2023 Australia vs Fiji Pool C Saint-Etienne 4.45pm Sun, Sep 17, 2023 England vs Japan Pool D Nice 8pm Wed, Sep 20, 2023 Italy vs Uruguay Pool A Nice 4.45pm Thu, Sep 21, 2023 France vs Namibia Pool A Marseille 8pm Fri, Sep 22, 2023 Argentina vs Samoa Pool D Saint-Etienne 4.45pm Sat, Sep 23, 2023 Georgia vs Portugal Pool C Toulouse 1pm Sat, Sep 23, 2023 England vs Chile Pool D Lille 4.45pm Sat, Sep 23, 2023 South Africa vs Ireland Pool B Paris 8pm Sun, Sep 24, 2023 Scotland vs Tonga Pool B Nice 4.45pm Sun, Sep 24, 2023 Wales vs Australia Pool C Lyon 8pm Wed, Sep 27, 2023 Uruguay vs Namibia Pool A Lyon 4.45pm Thu, Sep 28, 2023 Japan vs Samoa Pool D Toulouse 8pm Fri, Sep 29, 2023 New Zealand vs Italy Pool A Lyon 8pm Sat, Sep 30, 2023 Argentina vs Chile Pool D Nantes 2pm Sat, Sep 30, 2023 Fiji vs Georgia Pool C Bordeaux 4.45pm Sat, Sep 30, 2023 Scotland vs Romania Pool B Lille 8pm Sun, Oct 1, 2023 Australia vs Portugal Pool C Saint-Etienne 4.45pm Sun, Oct 1, 2023 South Africa vs Tonga Pool B Marseille 8pm Thu, Oct 5, 2023 New Zealand vs Uruguay Pool A Lyon 8pm Fri, Oct 6, 2023 France vs Italy Pool A Lyon 8pm Sat, Oct 7, 2023 Wales vs Georgia Pool C Nantes 2pm Sat, Oct 7, 2023 England vs Samoa Pool D Lille 4.45pm Sat, Oct 7, 2023 Ireland vs Scotland Pool B Paris 8pm Sun, Oct 8, 2023 Japan vs Argentina Pool D Nantes 12pm Sun, Oct 8, 2023 Tonga vs Romania Pool B Lille 4.45pm Sun, Oct 8, 2023 Fiji vs Portugal Pool C Toulouse 8pm Sat, Oct 14, 2023 QF 1 (Winner Pool C vs Runner-Up Pool D) Marseille 4pm Sat, Oct 14, 2023 QF 2 (Winner Pool B vs Runner-Up Pool A) Paris 8pm Sun, Oct 15, 2023 QF 3 (Winner Pool D vs Runner-Up Pool C) Marseille 4pm Sun, Oct 15, 2023 QF 4 (Winner Pool A vs Runner-Up Pool B) Paris 8pm Fri, Oct 20, 2023 SF 1 (Winner quarter-final 1 vs Winner quarter-final 2) Paris 8pm Sat, Oct 21, 2023 SF 2 (Winner quarter-final 3 vs Winner quarter-final 4) Paris 8pm Fri, Oct 27, 2023 Third-place play-off Paris 8pm Sat, Oct 28, 2023 Rugby World Cup 2023 final Paris 8pm Pool Venue Kick-off time Fri, Sep 8, 2023 France vs New Zealand Pool A Paris 8:15pm BST Sat, Sep 9, 2023 Italy vs Namibia Pool A Saint-Etienne 12pm Sat, Sep 9, 2023 Ireland vs Romania Pool B Bordeaux 2.30pm Sat, Sep 9, 2023 Australia vs Georgia Pool C Paris 5pm Sat, Sep 9, 2023 England vs Argentina Pool D Marseille 8pm Sun, Sep 10, 2023 Japan vs Chile Pool D Toulouse 12pm Sun, Sep 10, 2023 South Africa vs Scotland Pool B Marseille 4.45pm Sun, Sep 10, 2023 Wales vs Fiji Pool C Bordeaux 8pm Thu, Sep 14, 2023 France vs Uruguay Pool A Lille 8pm Fri, Sep 15, 2023 New Zealand vs Namibia Pool A Toulouse 8pm Sat, Sep 16, 2023 Samoa vs Chile Pool D Bordeaux 2pm Sat, Sep 16, 2023 Wales vs Portugal Pool C Nice 4.45pm Sat, Sep 16, 2023 Ireland vs Tonga Pool B Nantes 8pm Sun, Sep 17, 2023 South Africa vs Romania Pool B Bordeaux 2pm Sun, Sep 17, 2023 Australia vs Fiji Pool C Saint-Etienne 4.45pm Sun, Sep 17, 2023 England vs Japan Pool D Nice 8pm Wed, Sep 20, 2023 Italy vs Uruguay Pool A Nice 4.45pm Thu, Sep 21, 2023 France vs Namibia Pool A Marseille 8pm Fri, Sep 22, 2023 Argentina vs Samoa Pool D Saint-Etienne 4.45pm Sat, Sep 23, 2023 Georgia vs Portugal Pool C Toulouse 1pm Sat, Sep 23, 2023 England vs Chile Pool D Lille 4.45pm Sat, Sep 23, 2023 South Africa vs Ireland Pool B Paris 8pm Sun, Sep 24, 2023 Scotland vs Tonga Pool B Nice 4.45pm Sun, Sep 24, 2023 Wales vs Australia Pool C Lyon 8pm Wed, Sep 27, 2023 Uruguay vs Namibia Pool A Lyon 4.45pm Thu, Sep 28, 2023 Japan vs Samoa Pool D Toulouse 8pm Fri, Sep 29, 2023 New Zealand vs Italy Pool A Lyon 8pm Sat, Sep 30, 2023 Argentina vs Chile Pool D Nantes 2pm Sat, Sep 30, 2023 Fiji vs Georgia Pool C Bordeaux 4.45pm Sat, Sep 30, 2023 Scotland vs Romania Pool B Lille 8pm Sun, Oct 1, 2023 Australia vs Portugal Pool C Saint-Etienne 4.45pm Sun, Oct 1, 2023 South Africa vs Tonga Pool B Marseille 8pm Thu, Oct 5, 2023 New Zealand vs Uruguay Pool A Lyon 8pm Fri, Oct 6, 2023 France vs Italy Pool A Lyon 8pm Sat, Oct 7, 2023 Wales vs Georgia Pool C Nantes 2pm Sat, Oct 7, 2023 England vs Samoa Pool D Lille 4.45pm Sat, Oct 7, 2023 Ireland vs Scotland Pool B Paris 8pm Sun, Oct 8, 2023 Japan vs Argentina Pool D Nantes 12pm Sun, Oct 8, 2023 Tonga vs Romania Pool B Lille 4.45pm Sun, Oct 8, 2023 Fiji vs Portugal Pool C Toulouse 8pm Sat, Oct 14, 2023 QF 1 (Winner Pool C vs Runner-Up Pool D) Marseille 4pm Sat, Oct 14, 2023 QF 2 (Winner Pool B vs Runner-Up Pool A) Paris 8pm Sun, Oct 15, 2023 QF 3 (Winner Pool D vs Runner-Up Pool C) Marseille 4pm Sun, Oct 15, 2023 QF 4 (Winner Pool A vs Runner-Up Pool B) Paris 8pm Fri, Oct 20, 2023 SF 1 (Winner quarter-final 1 vs Winner quarter-final 2) Paris 8pm Sat, Oct 21, 2023 SF 2 (Winner quarter-final 3 vs Winner quarter-final 4) Paris 8pm Fri, Oct 27, 2023 Third-place play-off Paris 8pm Sat, Oct 28, 2023 Rugby World Cup 2023 final Where is the Rugby World Cup taking place? The 2023 Rugby World Cup is being played in France across nine stadiums in nine cities. The final will be played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (Paris). Stade de France (capacity 80,698) – Saint-Denis, Paris Stade de Marseille (67,394) – Marseille OL Stadium (59,186) – Lyon Stade Pierre-Mauroy (50,186) – Lille Stade de Bordeaux (42,115) – Bordeaux Stade Geoffroy-Guichard (41,965) – Saint-Étienne Stade de Nice (35,624) – Nice Stade de la Beaujoire (35,322) – Nantes Stade de Toulouse (33,150) – Toulouse Who is playing? A total of 20 teams qualified for the Rugby World Cup. These teams were split into four pools of five, with each pool getting one team from five ‘bands’. Band one featured the four highest-ranked teams from when the draw for the tournament was made back in 2019 (South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales). Band two comprised the next four highest-ranked teams (Ireland, Australia, France, Japan) and band three the four after that (Scotland, Argentina, Fiji, Italy). Each side in the first three bands qualified automatically for the tournament owing to their world ranking, while the further two bands comprised the sides who had made it into the tournament via qualifying (Samoa, Georgia, Uruguay, Tonga, Namibia, Romania, Chile, Portugal). South Africa are the defending champions. They beat England in the final in 2019. Paris 8pm