The men's Rugby World Cup, held every four years for national rugby union teams, will be the ninth edition.
From 8 September to 28 October 2023, it will be held throughout France at nine different locations.
Read more: Watch the Rugby World Cup online
The pool draws for upcoming Rugby World Cups will be held by World Rugby at a later time, closer to the start of the competitions.
There follows complaints that the draws were occurring far too early and that the teams' seedings were heavily influenced by the world rankings at the time of the draw.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup draw was held in December 2020, about three years before the event and roughly 13 months after the 2019 tournament in Japan.
South Africa, New Zealand, England, and Wales received band one seedings based on the rankings used to determine the 2023 World Cup pools. Since then, the latter two have dropped out of the top four, and Wales is now rated tenth.
Only two of Ireland, France, the hosts, New Zealand, the reigning champion South Africa, and Scotland may advance to the semifinals due to the way the 2023 pools are set up
The pool draw will be changed by World Rugby before 2027, the Mirror reported.
Had the draw taken place at the start of 2023, the top three bands would be:
Band 1: Ireland, France, New Zealand, South Africa
Band 2: England, Australia, Scotland, Argentina
Band 3: Wales, Japan, Italy, Fiji
The bands as of 1 January 2020 were:
Band 1: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales
Band 2: Ireland, Australia, France, Japan
Band 3: Scotland, Argentina, Fiji, Italy
Band 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Americas 1, Asia / Pacific 1
Band 5: Africa 1, Europe 2, Americas 2, Final Qualifier Winner
Everything you need to know on the sale for Rugby World Cup 2023 individual match tickets, which will open on 13 September at 18:00 (CEST) for members of the 2023 Family.
Rugby World Cup 2023 ticket sales for individual games will be available for the first time to fans from all over the world. Members of the 2023 Family will have a 24-hour pre-sale window starting on Tuesday, September 13 at 18:00. (CEST). On the official website, fans can sign up to join the 2023 Family until 12:00 (CEST) on September 13. The sale will start for the general public on September 15 at 18:00 (CEST).
Tickets for all 48 games of the tournament, including the opening game between France and New Zealand and the final, which will take place on October 28, 2023, will be made available for both 2023 Family and the general public in all price categories.
