The schedule for a Rugby World Cup already seemed to stretch out.
The addition of a week of competition - an announcement made on Monday by the organizing committee for the 2023 World Cup in France and World Rugby - will not change this perception.
Remember the following dates: the competition will start at the Stade de France on September 8 and end at the same place on October 28.
The details of the schedule including the poster for the opening match will be unveiled on February 26.
We will know if the XV of France will face the New Zealand All Blacks from their first meeting of Pool A.
Initially the final was to be held a week earlier on October 21, but in the meantime reflections on the health of the players have arisen.
The group stages are lengthened to allow all the selections to benefit from five-day rest periods between each meeting.
Which was not the case until then.
In 2019, during the Japanese World Cup, the XV of France had not played for eleven days between its narrow victory against Argentina (23-21), on September 21, and the lesson inflicted on the United States (33-9 ), October 2.
Before playing four days later, against Tonga (23-21).
Such a rapprochement of matches was already causing concern for the big nations but it turned into a headache for the small ones.
And that ultimately distorted the fairness of the competition.
Enlargement of groups to 33 players
For Brian O'Driscoll, former Irish international center (133 selections between 1999 and 2014), now representative of the players' union International Rugby Players on the board of directors of the Rugby World Cup, “rugby has become too physical and demanding. to be able to play with short periods of rest.
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The organizers also point out that the lengthening of the competition by a week is a good thing for the income from tourism.
“This will lead to increased tourism, spending and economic benefits,” they say.
