The ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup is currently taking place in Japan. This is the first time when this tournament is taking place in an Asian country. The opening match of RWC 2019 was played on September 20 and the final match will be played on November 2.
HISTORY
The Rugby World Cup was first played in 1987 where it was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Sixteen nations took part in that edition out of which New Zealand emerged to be victorious. They are not just the defending champions for this season but also, it is the most successful side in the history of this tournament with three titles.
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
This time a total of 20 teams will be participating in the Rugby World Cup. These teams are divided into 4 groups where each group contains five teams. The Participating Teams are as follows:
POOL A: IRELAND, SCOTLAND, JAPAN, RUSSIA, SAMOA
POOL B: NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA, ITALY, NAMIBIA, CANADA
POOL C: ENGLAND, FRANCE, ARGENTINA, USA, TONGA
POOL D: AUSTRALIA, WALES, GEORGIA, FIJI, URUGUAY
FULL SCHEDULE
Pool A:
Fri 20 Sep Japan vs Russia (Tokyo)
Sun 22 Sep Ireland vs Scotland (Yokohama)
Tue 24 Sep Russia vs Samoa (Kumagaya)
Sat 28 Sep Japan vs Ireland (Shizuoka)
Mon 30 Sep Scotland vs Samoa (Kobe)
Thu 3 Oct Ireland vs Russia (Kobe)
Sat 5 Oct Japan vs Samoa (Toyota)
Wed 9 Oct Scotland vs Russia (Shizuoka)
Sat 12 Oct Ireland vs Samoa (Fukuoka)
Sun 13 Oct Japan vs Scotland (Yokohama)
POOL B:
Sat 21 Sep New Zealand vs South Africa (Yokohama)
Sun 22 Sep Italy vs Namibia (Osaka)
Thu 26 Sept Italy vs Canada (Fukuoka)
Sat 28 Sep South Africa vs Namibia (Toyota)
Wed 2 Oct New Zealand vs Canada (Oita)
Fri 4 Oct South Africa vs Italy (Shizuoka)
Sun 6 Oct New Zealand vs Namibia (Tokyo)
Tue 8 Oct South Africa vs Canada (Kobe)
Sat 12 Oct New Zealand vs Italy (Toyota)
Sun 13 Oct Namibia vs Canada (Kamaishi)
POOL C:
Sat 21 Sep France vs Argentina (Tokyo)
Sun 22 Sep England vs Tonga (Sapporo)
Thu 26 Sep England vs USA (Kobe)
Sat 28 Sep Argentina vs Tonga (Osaka)
Wed 2 Oct France vs USA (Fukuoka)
Sat 5 Oct England vs Argentina (Tokyo)
Sun 6 Oct France vs Tonga (Kumamoto)
Wed 9 Oct Argentina vs USA (Kumagaya)
Sat 12 Oct England vs France (Yokohama)
Sun 13 Oct USA vs Tonga (Osaka)
POOL D:
Sat 21 Sep Australia vs Fiji (Sapporo)
Mon 23 Sep Wales vs Georgia (Toyota)
Wed 25 Sep Fiji vs Uruguay (Kamaishi)
Sun 29 Sep Georgia vs Uruguay (Kumagaya)
Sun 29 Sep Australia vs Wales (Tokyo)
Thu 3 Oct Georgia vs Fiji (Osaka)
Sat 5 Oct Australia vs Uruguay (Oita)
Wed 9 Oct Wales vs Fiji (Oita)
Fri 11 Oct Australia vs Georgia (Shizuoka)
Sun 13 Oct Wales vs Uruguay (Kumamoto)
KNOCKOUT MATCHES
Sat 19 Oct QF1 Winner Pool C vs Runner-up Pool D (Oita)
Sat 19 Oct QF2 Winner Pool B vs Runner-up Pool A (Tokyo)
Sun 20 Oct QF3 Winner Pool D vs Runner-up Pool C (Oita)
Sun 20 Oct QF4 Winner Pool A vs Runner-up Pool B (Tokyo)
Sat 26 Oct Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2 (Yokohama)
Sun 27 Oct Winner QF3 vs Winner QF4 (Yokohama)
Fri 1 Nov Third-place Play-off (Tokyo)
Sat 2 Nov RWC 2019 Final (Yokohama)
VENUES
As many as 10 stadiums have been selected for hosting this year’s Rugby World Cup. These 10 grounds are:
| Stadium | Region | Capacity |
| Tokyo Stadium | Chofu | 49,970 |
| Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium | Fukuoka | 22,563 |
| Sapporo Dome | Sapporo | 41,410 |
| Kumamoto Stadium | Kumamoto | 32,000 |
| Kobe Misaki Stadium | Kobe | 30,132 |
| Kumagaya Rugby Stadium | Kumagaya | 24,000 |
| Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium | Kamaishi | 16,187 |
| Oita Stadium | Oita | 40,000 |
| City of Toyota Stadium | Toyota | 45,000 |
| Hanazono Rugby Stadium | Higashiosaka | 30,000 |
| Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa | Fukuroi | 50,889 |
| International Stadium Yokohama | Yokohama | 72,327 |
BROADCASTING DETAILS
All the matches of the 2019 Rugby World Cup will be broadcasted live on Sony Ten 2 as its broadcasting rights have been acquired by Sony Sports Network in India. The matches will also be aired live on applications such as Jio TV and Airtel TV.
