Ireland In Band 2 For Rugby World Cup 2023 Draw
Bundee Aki at Ireland training in Japan Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Ireland will be in Band 2 alongside Australia, hosts France and 2019 hosts Japan, for the Rugby World Cup 2023 Draw which will take place in Paris in December.
The bands for the draw are based on World Rugby rankings as of January 1st 2020.
World Rugby and the France 2023 Organising Committee have announced that the Palais Brongniart in Paris will host the Rugby World Cup 2023 Draw. The Draw will be pushed back from the previously announced date by two weeks to 14 December 2020 owing to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on rugby and event hosting activities.
Built in 1908, the iconic Parisian venue will host the much-anticipated live event which will bring to life the tournament in the eyes of teams and fans alike. The draw will be streamed live for fans around the world via World Rugby’s digital channels.
Celebrating 200 years since the birth of the sport, Rugby World Cup 2023 will be contested by 20 teams, of which 12 are automatically qualified owing to a top-three place in their respective Rugby World Cup 2019 pools: champions South Africa, England, Wales, New Zealand, Japan, France, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Argentina and Fiji.
As previously announced and in line with previous Rugby World Cups, the teams will be seeded based on World Rugby Rankings and positioned into three bands of four teams.
The remaining eight teams will come through the regional qualification process and will be allocated into bands four and five based on relative strength. They consist of Americas 1, Americas 2, Europe 1, Europe 2, Africa 1, Oceania 1, Asia / Pacific 1 and the Final Qualifier Winner.
Acknowledging the global COVID-19 impact on international rugby in 2020, with some teams not playing this year, and to be fair to all qualified teams, the Rugby World Cup Board has decided that the World Rugby rankings as of 1 January 2020 will be used to determine the five bands. This represents the fairest scenario given it was the last time that all teams were able to play.
Rugby World Cup 2023 Draw
Band 1: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales
Band 2: Ireland, Australia, France, Japan
Band 3: Scotland, Argentina, Fiji, Italy
Band 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Americas 1, Asia/Pacific 1
Band 5: Africa 1, Europe 2, Americas 2, Final Qualifier Winner