08 September 2023 , 08:00
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France, New Zealand, England and Ireland will be among those eyeing a spot in the World Cup final come October.
Les Blues are hosting the tournament for the first time since 2007, when they reached the semi-finals, but are eyeing a first ever World Cup success on home soil. They go into the tournament as one of the hot favourites are an impressive period under Fabien Galthie.
There is no shortage of competition however with the All Blacks looking to wrestle back the crown they lost to the Springboks in Japan four years ago. It was the South Africans who reigned supreme on French soil 16 years ago, beating England in the final.
The showpiece match will be held, once more, at the Stade de France, located in the Parisian suburb on Saint-Denis. The 80,000-seater stadium, which has held events across all sports, will be the centre of the rugby world on opening and closing night.
France surrendered their Six Nations crown to Ireland back in the spring with Andy Farrell's men claiming the Grand Slam, beating the French in Dublin en route to that success. Last year it was Les Blues who secured a Grand Slam success and, after dominating Wales on the final day of the Championship, Galthie labelled them as the team to beat such is their record on home soil.
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“I hope that teams are scared of us now,” he said. “We’re certainly the team to beat. We do have an impressive victory ratio. We’ve only lost once here [in Paris], against Scotland.”
The Stade de France hosted the final 16 years agoFullback Thomas Ramos, who was one of the stars of the tournament, claimed: “It’s better that there’s enthusiasm than the opposite. I don’t think it scares us. I think we’re starting to reach a maturity which means we manage to deal with pressure. The enthusiasm will help us be better than the previous World Cup, for example.”
Over the past two years France have knocked off New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and all of the European nations on their own patch.
When is the Rugby World Cup final?
The winner of the World Cup will be crowned on October 28. The contest kicks-off at 8pm in England, 9pm local time in the French capital.
Who are the favourites?
France are, narrowly, ahead in the betting with New Zealand closely behind them. The two teams will play each other on the opening night in what is a blockbuster encounter.
South Africa are third favourites with Ireland the most likely of the home nations to secure World Cup success. England are fifth favourites ahead of Australia.