2023 Rugby World Cup in Review

Explore all of the highlights from the 2023 Rugby World Cup here at RugbyPass. Our rugby gurus have filled this page with all of the key details and records from the tournament. So, from Chile’s debut to South Africa’s second successive title, you’ll find every enthralling moment summarised right here.

Whether you’ve come here for France’s biggest winning margin or to revisit the tournament’s top players, scroll down for all of the 2023 Rugby World Cup wins, tries and points.

Where was the Rugby World Cup held in 2023?

Hosts: France
Champions: South Africa

The 2023 Rugby World Cup was hosted by France during rugby’s bicentennial. This was the fourth time that France had hosted the tournament; they co-hosted the 1991 and 1999 tournaments and they were the sole hosts of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

The 2023 RWC was the 10th edition of this quadrennial tournament. This was also a particularly significant year as it marked a major milestone: rugby celebrated its 200th birthday in 2023.

Contested from 8 September to 28 October, the 2023 Rugby World Cup was enthralling from the first whistle through to the very last. The 2023 Rugby World Cup final was once again contested by two teams from the southern hemisphere, this time between the Springboks and the All Blacks.

Ultimately, the defending champions, South Africa, beat New Zealand and retained their world title. In doing so, they became the first team to claim four Webb Ellis Cups as well as the first nation to claim back-to-back titles without playing a match at home.

Additionally, this was the last Rugby World Cup to feature 20 teams. From 2027, a total of 24 teams will compete to win the Webb Ellis Cup.

2023 Rugby World Cup: Statistics

From the tournament’s participating teams to the venues and top players, here are all of the stats from the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Participating nations

The 2023 Rugby World Cup featured 20 participating teams. The first 12 nations automatically qualified based on their standings in the 2019 tournament; the top three teams from each pool filled these spaces. Next, a total of 34 nations competed for the remaining eight spots. These were decided via regional play-offs with one new team, Chile, making their debut.

The European play-offs were filled with controversy. Ultimately Spain, who had qualified for the tournament, were ejected after it transpired they’d fielded a player who had used a falsified passport. They were ultimately replaced by Portugal.

Here are all of the 2023 Rugby World cup squads:

Africa: Namibia and South Africa
Americas: Argentina, Chile and Uruguay
Asia: Japan
Europe: England, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Scotland and Wales
Oceania: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga

Matches, venues and attendance

The 2023 Rugby World Cup featured 48 fixtures, with the opening match and final held at the Stade de France. A total of 2,437,208 spectators travelled to games across nine French stadiums. This means an average of 50,775 people attended each match.

Here are the locations and capacities of each of the 2023 Rugby World Cup venues:

Stadium	Country	City	Capacity
Stade de France	France	Paris	80,698
Stade de Marseille	France	Marseille	67,394
OL Stadium	France	Lyon	59,186
Stade Pierre-Mauroy	France	Lille	50,186
Stade de Bordeaux	France	Bordeaux	42,115
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard	France	Saint-Étienne	41,965
Stade de Nice	France	Nice	35,624
Stade de la Beaujoire	France	Nantes	35,322
Stadium de Toulouse	France	Toulouse	33,150

Who won the Rugby World Cup in 2023?

Champions: South Africa
Runner-up: New Zealand
Third place: England

South Africa were crowned as the 2023 Rugby World Cup winners. The Springboks won six of their seven matches: they were defeated 13-8 by Ireland in the pool stage. Interestingly, during the knockout phase, they beat England, France and New Zealand by just one point each.

Their 12-11 victory in the final marked the second time South Africa had defeated the All Blacks in a Rugby World Cup final – the first was their 15-12 win in 1995. This was also the second time South Africa had won the tournament in France – they defeated England at the Stade de France in 2007.

Like South Africa, New Zealand also lost one of their pool-stage matches: their opening 27-13 defeat against France. Meanwhile, third place went to England. The England squad won all of their matches before they fell to South Africa 16-15 at the semi-final stage. They then defeated Argentina 26-23 in the third-place play-off.

Top try and point scorers

Owen Farrell and Will Jordan were two of the standout players at the tournament. With 75 points, Farrell was the top point scorer of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. As the top try scorer, Jordan crossed the line eight times. This equalled the record for the most tries scored in one tournament.

2023 Rugby World Cup: Pool stage review

The pool-stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup kicked off with a huge win for France, who beat New Zealand 27-13. However, the game started very differently as All Black Mark Telea scored a try after just 91 seconds.

Following the opening match, the tournament saw several phenomenal results. This included France’s largest ever win as well as Ireland and South Africa’s 12-try triumphs against Romania.

Like previous tournaments, the 2023 Rugby World Cup pools were structured into four groups with five teams per pool. Each nation faced each of the other nations in their pool once.

In every encounter, teams could win four points for a win and two points for a draw. Additionally, nations could also win one try-scoring bonus point (for scoring at least four tries) or one losing bonus point (for losing a game by seven points or less).

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
New Zealand	South Africa	Wales	England
France	Ireland	Australia	Japan
Italy	Scotland	Fiji	Argentina
Uruguay	Tonga	Georgia	Samoa
Namibia	Romania	Portugal	Chile

Pool A

Pool A was contested by three-time winners New Zealand as well as France, Italy, Namibia and Uruguay. The opening match, France v New Zealand, was held on 8 September.

Highlights of Pool A included France’s opening 27-13 win. This was New Zealand’s first ever pool-stage loss as well as their biggest defeat in a Rugby World Cup match. Next, France produced their largest ever win, scoring 14 tries in their 96-0 triumph against Namibia.

Although New Zealand and France dominated the group, other teams also earned notable achievements. This included the 36-26 Namibia v Uruguay encounter, in which both teams achieved their highest points total in a World Cup match. Meanwhile, Namibia failed to score a single competition point.

Pool A
Team	Win	Draw	Loss	Points Difference	Tries Scored	Bonus Points	Points
France	4	0	0	+178	27	2	18
New Zealand	3	0	1	+206	38	3	15
Italy	2	0	2	-67	15	2	10
Uruguay	1	0	3	-99	9	1	5
Namibia	0	0	4	-218	3	0	0

Pool B

Pool B featured Ireland, Romania, Scotland, South Africa and Tonga. The opening match in this pool, Ireland v Romania, saw Ireland celebrate their largest ever Rugby World Cup victory (82-8).

Additionally, South Africa secured their fastest World Cup try bonus point: they scored four tries in 11 minutes and 13 seconds against Romania. Meanwhile, Scotland delivered their largest victory against Romania. They beat the side 84-0, a score that doubled their previous 42-0 record from 2007.

Pool B
Team	Win	Draw	Loss	Points Difference	Tries Scored	Bonus Points	Points
Ireland	4	0	0	+144	27	3	19
South Africa	3	0	1	+117	22	3	15
Scotland	2	0	2	+75	21	2	10
Tonga	1	0	3	-81	13	1	5
Romania	0	0	4	-255	4	0	0

Pool C

Pool C consisted of Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Portugal and Wales. The biggest shock of the pool came from Fiji, who defeated Australia 22-15. This was their first victory over the Wallabies since 1954.

Other notable matches included the 18-18 draw between Georgia and Portugal, Wales’ 40-6 win against Australia, and Portugal’s 24-23 victory against Fiji.

Wales finished at the top of Pool C. This was the first time they had won back-to-back pools – they won all of their Pool D matches in 2019.

Pool C
Team	Win	Draw	Loss	Points Difference	Tries Scored	Bonus Points	Points
Wales	4	0	0	+84	17	3	19
Fiji	2	0	2	+5	9	3	11
Australia	2	0	2	-1	11	3	11
Portugal	1	1	2	-39	8	0	6
Georgia	0	1	3	-49	7	1	3

Pool D

The fourth group, Pool D, comprised Argentina, Chile, England, Japan and Samoa. As the newcomers, Chile failed to score any competition points. They were defeated 42-12 by Japan, 43-10 by Samoa, 71-0 by England and 59-5 by Chile.

England won the pool by winning each of their matches. They also produced their first ever clean sheet in a World Cup encounter: their 71-0 result against Chile.

Pool D
Team	Win	Draw	Loss	Points Difference	Tries Scored	Bonus Points	Points
England	4	0	0	+111	17	2	18
Argentina	3	0	1	+58	15	2	14
Japan	2	0	2	+2	12	1	9
Samoa	1	0	3	+17	11	3	7
Chile	0	0	4	-188	4	0	0

After all 40 pool-stage encounters, eight teams earned their place in the quarter-finals. Here are the 2023 Rugby World Cup results from the pool stage:

Pool A: France and New Zealand
Pool B: Ireland and South Africa
Pool C: Wales and Fiji
Pool D: England and Argentina

2023 Rugby World Cup: Knockout stage review

From New Zealand bulldozing Argentina in the semi finals to South Africa’s record fourth World Cup win, here are the 2023 Rugby World Cup knockout stage results:

Quarter-Finals		Semi-Finals		Third Place		Final
Team	Result	Team	Result	Team	Result	Team	Result
Argentina	29
Wales	17	New Zealand	44
New Zealand	28	Argentina	6
Ireland	24			England	26	South Africa	12
England	30			Argentina	23	New Zealand	11
Fiji	24	South Africa	16
South Africa	29	England	15
France	28

2023 Rugby World Cup quarter finals

The 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter finals started with an impressive comeback from Argentina. They scored 17 points in 12 minutes and claimed their 29-17 victory over Wales. Next, New Zealand edged past Ireland in an epic encounter that finished 28-24.

In the third quarter final, England managed to survive against a resurgent Fiji. The Flying Fijians pulled off a late comeback, converting two tries in the final 15 minutes. However, a 78th-minute penalty from Owen Farrell eased the pressure and England finished six points ahead.

The last quarter final saw South Africa claw their way back from a 25-19 deficit. Thanks to a converted try from Eben Etzebeth and a penalty from the boot of Handré Pollard in the 69th-minute, the Springboks edged ahead 29-25.

With France still fighting for their place, Thomas Ramos converted a penalty in the 73rd minute. However, France couldn’t score again and they finished one point short.

2023 Rugby World Cup semi finals

Held at the Stade de France, the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi finals fixtures were Argentina v New Zealand and England v South Africa.

In the first clash, New Zealand decimated Argentina 44-6. The masterful All Blacks scored seven tries – including a hat-trick from Will Jordan – while Argentina’s points came from the boot of Emiliano Boffelli.

The second semi final was a closer clash. After trailing behind 15-6, South Africa added 10 points in the final 10 minutes. Ultimately, a last-gasp penalty from Handré Pollard sealed South Africa’s win. Interestingly, this 78th-minute penalty marked the first time South Africa had taken the lead in the entire match.

2023 Rugby World Cup third-place play-off

The 2023 Bronze Final was contested by Argentina and England at the Stade de France. Argentina were hoping to bounce back from their semi-final defeat against New Zealand, while England were determined to end their campaign with one last victory.

England secured an early lead and finished the first half 16-10 ahead. In contrast, Argentina pulled off a stunning second half. They scored an additional 13 points and edged ever closer to their opponents. However, England managed to cling on and they’d maintained a 26-23 lead when the final whistle sounded.

2023 Rugby World Cup final

The 2023 Rugby World Cup final was the most gripping match of the tournament. Contested at the Stade de France, this battle between South Africa and New Zealand was one for the ages.

This was the second time these two teams had met in a RWC final: the first occurred in 1995. Just like 1995, it was South Africa who emerged victorious. By the final whistle, the Springboks had made history by lifting their fourth Webb Ellis Cup.

The game started in South Africa’s favour, with Handré Pollard kicking a penalty three minutes into the match. In fact, Pollard’s boot secured all of South Africa’s points: he scored four penalties during the first half.

After leading 12-6 at the break, South Africa’s fate hung in the balance during the second half. Beauden Barrett scored a 58th minute try, but the conversion was missed and the Springboks maintained a narrow 12-11 lead. Finally, with a missed penalty from Jordie Barrett, South Africa emerged as the 2023 Rugby World Cup winners.

It should be noted that the game was a fractious affair, with both teams receiving a yellow card (Frizell for New Zealand and both Kolisi and Kolbe for South Africa). Plus, the match saw Sam Cane, New Zealand’s captain, become the first player to ever receive a red card in a Rugby World Cup final.

Fourth Webb Ellis Cup for South Africa

With record-setting victories, the 2023 Rugby World Cup was a glorious way to mark rugby’s bicentenary. From France’s largest ever test victory to England’s first clean sheet, this World Championship featured some of the biggest winning margins of all time.

Although France and New Zealand endured disappointment – the hosts failed to advance past the quarter finals while New Zealand suffered their first ever pool-stage defeat – it was a phenomenal year for South Africa. By beating New Zealand in the final, the Springboks became the first team in history to win four Rugby World Cups.

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