The rugby world cup takes place every four years and this year’s tournament is hosted by France. It will feature 12 automatic qualifiers who are all allocated a band based on the World Rugby Rankings on 1 January 2020. France will face the All Blacks in the opening match of the tournament. This rivalry has always been fierce and the 2007 semifinal was arguably the greatest game in the history of the sport. The final will take place in New Zealand on October 27.
In November, South Africa won the World Cup, beating England in the final in Yokohama. This year, 12 members of the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup team will reunite on the field. However, they will not play again until July 2020, a year after their thrilling victory in Yokohama. In the meantime, the South African team will be without a coach until after the World Cup. This is a setback for southern hemisphere rugby.
The Rugby World Cup has been held eight times since its inception in 1987. New Zealand has won it three times, and France won it two. Australia and South Africa have won it once. England has won it once. The tournament began with sixteen teams, and today, twenty countries take part in every tournament. Japan hosted the tournament in 2019, while France will host the next one in 2023. This tournament has been postponed for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
