France hosts the 10th Rugby World Cup. The tournament is open in Saint-Denis on 8 September, where the French beat the New Zealanders 27-13.
Two centuries after the invention of the sport, some 2.5 million tickets sold and millions of television viewers in 209 countries share moments of fraternity, passion, energy and, most importantly, fair play. The Rugby World Cup has been the showcase of art de vivre, in various territories and typical regions of France.
Malheureusement for the French team that failed to reach the semi-finals despite the close match with South Africa, who won by only one point and left a final score of 28 vs 29 points, as well as the disappointment of French faces around the world.
Games around France
From 8th September to 28th October, 48 matches will be played in nine host cities.
Let’s start with the beautiful Ville Lumière which welcomes at Stade de France, Saint-Denis the opening teams of the competition: France (Les Bleus) vs New Zealand (All Blacks) on Friday 8 September, Australia (Wallabies) and Georgia (The Lelos) on 9 September, South Africa (The Springboks) and Ireland on 23 September, Ireland vs Scotland on 7 October and some quarter-final matches are also played: Ireland v New Zealand on 14 October and Les Bleus vs The Springboks match on 15 October.
St. Denis also hosts the semi-finalists on 20 October: Argentina and New Zealand, while the following day England and South Africa play. And of course, the Grand Final, which takes place on 28 October and the winners are The Springboks with a very closed score and only one point difference where the South Africans have 12 points and beat the All Blacks to take the cup home for another 4 years.
Marseille hosts England and Argentina on 9 September, South Africa and Scotland on 10 September, France and Namibia on 21 September, South Africa v Tonga on 1 October, while the quarter finals saw Ireland play New Zealand on 14 October with NZ progressing to the semifinals and the following day England (The 15 of the Rose) progressed to the semifinals leaving Fiji (Flying Fijians) out of the competition.
At the Stade de Bordeaux in the city of the same name, they play: Ireland v Romania on 9 September, Wales and Fiji the following day, Samoa (Manu Samoa) and Chile (Los Cóndores) on 16 September, South Africa v Romania on 17 September and finally Fiji v Georgia on 30 September.
Saint-Étienne hosts Italy (Gli Azzurri) and Namibia (Welwitschias) at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on 9 September, Australia vs Fiji on 17 September, Argentina and Samoa on 22 September, Australia vs Portugal on October 1st.
The Stade de Toulouse opens its doors for the Japan – Chile games on 10 September, New Zealand and Namibia on 15 September, Georgia vs Portugal on 23 September, Japan and Samoa on 28 September, Fiji vs Portugal on 8 October.
At the Stade Pierre Mauroy in the city of Lille the games stars with France and Uruguay on 14 September, England and Chile on 23 September, Scotland vs Romania on 30 September, England and Samoa on 7 October, while Tonga (‘Ikale Tahi) and Romania (Oaks) compete on 8 October.
Nice with its stadium of the same name hosts Wales (Dragons) vs Portugal (Os Lobos) on 16 September, England and Japan on 17 September, Italy vs Uruguay (Los Teros) on 20 September and Scotland vs Tonga on 24 September.
The matches at Stade de la Beaujoire in the Nantes’ city are Ireland vs Tonga on 16 September, Argentina and Chile on 30 September, Wales vs Georgia on 7 October and, on 8 October, Argentina (Los Pumas) play Japan (The Brave Blossoms).
The OL Stadium in Lyon will host games such as: Wales and Australia on 24 September, Uruguay against Namibia on 27 September, New Zealand and Italy 29 September and repeats New Zealand this time against Uruguay on 5 October to finally play on 6 October Les Bleus against Gli Azzurri.
History brief
The origin of this sport began in 1823, when playing football, William Webb-Ellis, an English student at Rugby College, made an “unusual” gesture by catching the ball with his hand and running with it. This led to the rules drawn up by the students at Rugby College in 1845, which specified that it was permitted to play the ball with the hands, from which the current rules were derived. In 1886 the International Rugby Board, now called World Rugby, was founded and the first international match was played in 1871 between Scotland and England.
Scoring in the game is defined by the Try which is when the ball is grounded on or over the opponents’ goal line and is worth 5 points. The Penalty Kick is worth 3 points and is awarded in favor of a team after an infringement by the opponents, the team may kick at goal.
The conversion is worth 2 points and can be achieved when the same team after scoring a try kicks the ball between the posts and over the crossbar. Finally, the drop goal is worth 3 points.
In 1987 the first Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand and Australia during May and June. The countries competing were the seven members of World Rugby, with several other traditional rugby nations invited. The 7 traditional WR members proved too strong for the other teams, and the All Blacks dominated the entire tournament and lifted the cup after beating Les Bleus.
Since its creation, all editions have been held in countries with a strong rugby tradition. England and France have been the only two countries to have hosted the Rugby World Cup twice at home and Japan, despite not having a great history in the sport, was chosen to host the World Cup in 2019, due to its progress in world rugby.
This is an inclusive sport and will also host the tenth Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025 with England being considered as the host nation. The women’s cup was first played in Wales in 1991 and from 1998 World Rugby proclaimed the cup to be held every 4 years. The current champions are the Black Ferns, who won the 2021 tournament at home in New Zealand.
Rugby is a sport that draws its strength from solidarity, sharing, acceptance of differences, selflessness, collective commitment, and respect.
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