From the “heavy” entry. The French rugby team will face the New Zealand team from the group stage of the 2023 World Cup, according to the draw on Monday, December 14 in Paris, France to be the host country of this competition.
In this group A will also appear Italy as well as a country representing the Americas zone (Canada or United States) and an African country. These last two will be known after the qualification phase for the World Cup, organized by November 2022.
“If you want to be world champions, you have to beat everyone. France inherits one of the best nations in the world, New Zealand, we are very excited ”, reacted Bernard Laporte, the president of the French federation, at the microphone of the TMC channel. The scrum-half Antoine Dupont reminded him that“In 2011, we lost in hens but we went to the final! “
The XV of France could not escape a “big customer” from this first round, because of its world ranking: according to the latter, established on January 1, 2020, the Blues occupied the 7th position (while they are now moved up to 4th place) and were therefore placed in hat 2 for this draw, when most of the big rugby nations were in hat 1.
The defending South African champions will face Ireland and Scotland in Group B, as well as an Asia / Pacific country and another European country, not yet nominated.
In the quarter-finals, the team that will come out second in Group A may have to face South Africa, which appears to be the strongest (on paper) in Group B.
Group C will feature Wales, Australia, Fiji, a European country and the winner of a draft tournament.
In group D, England will be opposed to Japan, Argentina, a country from Oceania (Tonga or Samoa) and a country from the Americas zone, not yet designated.
Nine cities will host the competition: Saint-Denis (Stade de France), Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nice, Saint-Etienne and Nantes.
