The warm-up games are done, the wait is over! The Rugby World Cup kicks off today, Friday, September 8 with a corker involving the formidable host nation, France, doing battle against the All Blacks. And you absolutely, positively need to know how to catch the France vs New Zealand live stream – whether on your TV or laptop. The coverage has now begun for this Rugby World Cup opener and, with temperatures set for a sweltering 29C despite the sun setting in Paris, this promises to be a fantastic game of rugby. Kick-off is here.
The teams for this are as follows:
France: Thomas Ramos; Damian Penaud, Gaël Fickou, Yoram Moefana, Gabin Villiere; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont (captain); Reda Wardi, Julian Marchand, Uini Atonio, Cameron Woki, Thibaud Flament, François Cros, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt
New Zealand: Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Mark Telea; Richie Mo'unga, Aaron Smith; Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor, Nepo Laulala, Samuel Whitelock, Scott Barrett, Dalton Papali'i, Sam Cane (captain), Ardie Savea
France vs New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup is airing for FREE in the UK today, on the ITVX streaming service. But don't worry if you're abroad while the games are playing, because you can watch the Rugby World Cup live streams on ITVX from anywhere with a VPN.
► Date: Friday, September 8
► Time: 8.15 p.m. BST / 3.15 p.m. ET / 12.15 p.m. PT / 5.15 a.m. AEST (Sep. 9)
US: NBC (live TV streaming) | Peacock
UK: ITV | ITVX (both free with license fee)
AU: Stan Sport
Stream anywhere: ExpressVPN
Going in, France sit one spot above New Zealand, at third and fourth in the world respectively – yep, the All Blacks' crown has been slipping of late. We might mention the small matter of a recent 35-7 drubbing at the hands of South Africa in the final warm-up game if we were feeling catty, although the New Zealand squad had beaten the Springboks en route to lifting the 2023 Rugby Championship a few weeks earlier.
Who tops that prestigious table? Ireland, followed by reigning champions South Africa.
Antoine Dupont leads a French side keen to make an early impression despite four injuries, including Romain Ntamack, because let's not forget, the William Webb Ellis trophy is one France has yet to lift.
Standing in Fabien Galthie’s side’s way are an All Blacks team that lacks centre Jordie Barrett, but Barrett's two brothers, Beauden and Scott, will likely feature from the off.
The Stade de France in Paris is hosting not only one of the biggest rugby events of the year, but also one of the last big sports tournaments of 2023 too, with most of the heavy hitters out of the way. The US Open wraps up just days into the Rugby World Cup, and then it's just Cricket World Cup.
What we're saying is, you want to watch all the matches, whether you're planning to stream the entire Rugby World Cup or watch it on your TV. So keep reading for your entire list of options.
We've also included lots of useful information below so you know when the matches take place, who will play, and where this evening's drama will go down.
How to watch France vs New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup in the UK
In the UK, ITV is the exclusive broadcaster for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, so you'll be able to watch France vs New Zealand – and all the games – on one of the various ITV-branded channels.
If you don't have a TV, then you'll be able to use ITVX on your computer, phone, tablet or smart TV, as that lets you live stream from ITV channels.
How to watch France vs New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup 2023 in the US
Thanks to a partnership between World Rugby and NBC Sports, the broadcasting company will be the exclusive home for the Rugby World Cup games – including France vs New Zealand, which will be streamed live on Peacock.
Other games could be scattered among various NBC channels, but they'll likely be concentrated on the main NBC Sports channel. NBCUniversal-owned streaming service Peacock will likely allow streams of many other games too, like it did during the Soccer World Cup and other major sports events, as it's the exclusive streaming home of NBC Sports' rugby coverage.
How to watch France vs New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup in Australia
In Australia, you've got two options for watching the Rugby World Cup. Firstly, online streaming service Stan Sport will be showing every single game – including France vs New Zealand.
Nine will be showing all of the Australian team's games (and the final, whether or not the Wallabies make it), and will also be streaming it on 9Now.
How to watch France vs New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup everywhere else
Wherever you live, there's a good possibility that a national broadcaster is streaming the Rugby World Cup matches, particularly if your country has a team playing in the tournament.
However, there's a possibility that there's no easy way of watching Six Nation games. Thankfully, you can solve this issue with a Virtual Private Network (a VPN).
A VPN lets you get around the usual digital barriers by changing your IP address, meaning you can watch events like the World Cup tournament even if it is not directly broadcasting where you are. Our favorite is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at ExpressVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch.
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
Rugby World Cup 2023 fixtures
Group stage
Friday, September 8
Group A: France vs New Zealand
Saturday, September 9
Group A: Italy vs Namibia
Group B: Ireland vs Romania
Group C: Australia vs Georgia
Group D: England vs Argentina
Sunday, September 10
Group B: South Africa vs Scotland
Group C: Wales vs Fiji
Group D: Japan vs Chile
Thursday, September 14
Group A: France vs Uruguay
Friday, September 15
Group A: New Zealand vs Namibia
Saturday, September 16
Group B: Ireland vs Tonga
Group C: Wales vs Portugal
Group D: Samoa vs Chile
Sunday, September 17
Group B: South Africa vs Romania
Group C: Australia vs Fiji
Group D: England vs Japan
Wednesday, September 20
Group A: Italy vs Uruguay
Thursday, September 21
Group A: France vs Namibia
Friday, September 22
Group D: Argentina vs Samoa
Saturday, September 23
Group B: South Africa vs Ireland
Group C: Georgia vs Portugal
Group D: England vs Chile
Sunday, September 24
Group B: Scotland vs Tonga
Group C: Wales vs Australia
Wednesday, September 27
Group A: Uruguay vs Namibia
Thursday, September 28
Group D: Japan vs Samoa
Friday, September 29
Group A: New Zealand vs Italy
Saturday, September 30
Group B: Scotland vs Romania
Group C: Fiji vs Georgia
Group D: Argentina vs Chile
Sunday, October 1
Group B: South Africa vs Tonga
Group C: Australia vs Portugal
Thursday, October 5
Group A: New Zealand vs Uruguay
Friday, October 6
Group A: France vs Italy
Saturday, October 7
Group B: Ireland vs Scotland
Group C: Wales vs Georgia
Group D: England vs Samoa
Sunday, October 8
Group B: Tonga vs Romania
Group C: Fiji vs Portugal
Group D: Japan vs Argentina
Knockout stage
Saturday, October 14
QF1: Group C winner vs Group D runner-up
QF2: Group B winner vs Group A runner-up
Sunday, October 15
QF3: Group D winner vs Group C runner-up
QF4: Group A winner vs Group B runner-up
Friday, October 20
SF1: QF1 winner vs QF2 winner
Saturday, October 21
SF2: QF3 winner vs QF4 winner
Friday, October 27
Bronze Final: SF1 loser vs SF2 loser
Saturday, October 28
Final: SF1 winner vs SF2 winner
Rugby World Cup 2023 questions
Where does the Rugby World Cup take place?
The Rugby World Cup 2023 is being hosted by France, with nine different locations around the country hosting rugby games:
- Stade de Framce in Saint-Denis, capacity 80,698
- Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, capacity 67,394
- Stade Lyon-Décines in Décines-Charpieu, capacity 59,186
- Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, capacity 50,186
- Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, capacity 42,115
- Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne, capacity 41,965
- Stade de Nice in Nice, 35,624
- Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, capacity 35,322
- Stadium Municipa in Toulouse, capacity 33,150
Which teams are in the Rugby World Cup?
There are 20 teams partaking in the Rugby World Cup, with each split into four groups of five in the first stage of the tournament.
Chile makes its debut to the tournament this year, knocking out the United States and Canada in its successful qualification tournament.
Group A
New Zealand
France
Italy
Uruguay
Namibia
Group B
South Africa
Ireland
Scotland
Tonga
Romania
Group C
Wales
Australia
Fiji
Georgia
Portugal
Group D
England
Japan
Argentina
Samoa
Chile
