
Sep 17: South Africa vs Romania (Pool B) – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux.Sep 16: Ireland vs Tonga (Pool B) – Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes.Sep 16: Wales vs Portugal (Pool C) – Stade de Nice, Nice.Sep 16: Samoa vs Chile (Pool D) – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux.Sep 15: New Zealand vs Namibia (Pool A) – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse.Sep 14: France vs Uruguay (Pool A) – Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille.

Sep 10: Wales vs Fiji (Pool C) – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux.Sep 10: South Africa vs Scotland (Pool B) – Stade Velodrome, Marseille.Sep 10: Japan vs Chile (Pool D) – Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse.Sep 9: England vs Argentina (Pool D) – Stade Velodrome, Marseille.Sep 9: Australia vs Georgia (Pool C) – Stade de France, Saint-Denis.Sep 9: Ireland vs Romania (Pool B) – Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux.Sep 9: Italy vs Namibia (Pool A) – Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne.


It means the World Cup opener between France and New Zealand is all-important, with the loser likely to come up against the Irish in the last eight. Ireland currently top the world rankings, but with No 2 France and No 3 New Zealand placed in the same pool, a tough quarter-final awaits should the Irish top their own group. If we suppose the top-ranked teams each win their pools and the second-ranked teams finish runners-up then the quarter-finals in 2023 could look something like this… QF 1: Winner Pool C vs Runner up Pool DĪn Ireland vs New Zealand quarter-final? Ireland topped the world rankings after beating New Zealand last year (Photo: AFP).
