[First posted 6 April 2021]
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Rugby World Cup 2023 organizers began the first round of sales on 15 March 2021. Being a veteran spectator of several major sporting events including Euro 2016 in France and Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, I am naturally excited about the possibility of attending the tournament in person.
You can read more about my experience at RWC 2019 here.
In this article, I will cover the details of the tournament and how one can go around planning for it.
When is RWC 2023 taking place?
The tournament will take place from 8 Sep to 28 October 2023.
Where is RWC 2023 held?
The matches will be held in 9 stadiums across France (click on the map to see the matches in each city): –
Of the nine stadiums, I visited three of them during UEFA Euro 2016 tournament.
Stade Velodrome, Marseille
Stade Velodrome is the home of Olympique de Marseille and has a capacity of over 67,000. It’s well-connected to Marseille’s transportation system and within walking distance from both Rond-Point du Prado and Sainte Marguerite Dromel on Marseille Metro Line 2.
Parc Olympique, Lyon
Parc Olympique is a fairly new stadium completed in 2016 and home to Olympique Lyonnais. It is around 10km from the city centre and holds almost 60,000 spectators. We caught two matches there and took the special trams arranged on match days.
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St Etienne
A stadium built in the 1930s, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is the home of AS St Etienne and has a capacity of 42,000. It was also the only stadium that we drove to. There were several free parking options provided and it took us around 15 minutes’ walk to get to the stadium from where we parked.
Who are taking part?
A total of 20 teams will compete for Rugby World Cup 2023. Twelve countries have already qualified by finishing at least 3rd during the Rugby World Cup 2019 pool stage. The remaining eight qualifiers will be determined by November 2022.
How to secure match tickets?
Through Official Hospitality
If money’s no object and attending the matches in style is your kind of thing, the hospitality packages may be your thing. These packages usually include match ticket, meals, drinks and access to lounges and come at a high premium of up to several thousands of Euros.
Through Resellers
There are platforms such as Stubhub and Viagogo where ticket holders could list their tickets for sale and the platforms get a cut of the sale. This can work for highly popular matches (e.g. Final) where demand outstrips supply.
However, there are instances of sellers not being able to fulfil orders, causing buyers to abandon their plan or trying frantically to scramble for tickets. Thus, it’s important to understand the risks before venturing onto these platforms.
Through Travel Agencies
There are official travel agencies across the globe which are authorised to sell packages for the tournament. Beside match tickets, their packages may also include return airfare, accommodation and local transfers.
While these packages are not cheap, the travel agencies take away the pain of planning for the travelling fans. A full list of the authorised travel agents can be found here.
RECOMMENDED – Through Official Website
This is the definitely best way to get match tickets, cutting away all the middle men. I got my RWC2019 tickets through this method as well.
TOP TIP – JOIN THE 2023 FAMILY!!
It’s free to create a RWC2023 Family account in order to enjoy pre-sale opportunities ahead of others and priority access to knock-out matches. The first ticket sale for the group started in March (15 March for those paying with MasterCard and 17 March for those who are not). It is likely that there are more pre-sale opportunities for those with RWC2023 Family account so it doesn’t hurt to sign up ASAP.
NEXT SALE – Start 6 2021 April 1800hrs (GMT+2, Central European Time)
For those who did not manage to join the RWC2023 Family, the general sale starts on 6 April 2021 at 1800hrs (CET). Tickets will be sold at a first-come-first-serve basis. Based on my experience, there will be a huge interest and you may be in the queue for several hours before being able to purchase.
There will be two categories on sale: –
Follow My Team
If you opt for Follow My Team Packs, you will get tickets to all four pool-stage matches of your selected team as well as the option to add the Quarter-final match, should your team qualify. Refund will be provided if the team fails to make it to the knock-out stage. The cheapest package without quarterfinal option costs €135 for Fiji fans (Cat 4) and the most expensive one costs €1355 for for the French (Cat 1).
I can imagine this package to be very popular with fans who wish to follow their teams all the way through the tournament.
City Packs
City Packs consist of 3, 4 or 5 pool-stage matches in the same stadium and may appeal to fans who prefer to base themselves in the same city. Every city offers either 3-matches pack or all-matches pack; for those purchasing 3-matches pack, they can choose two matches of their choice while the final match will be part of the standard package. The cheapest city pack is the 3-match pack in Toulouse which costs only €58 (Cat 4).
What are the ticket categories?
Cat 1 are the best tickets located along the side of the pitches.
Cat 2 are next best category at the corners of the stadium.
Cat 3 are situated behind the goals.
Cat 4 are situated behind the goals either close to the pitch or high up in the stands.
How are the tickets delivered?
Based on RWC2019 experience, the tickets can be downloaded closer to the tournament and fans may need to print them out themselves so that they can enter the stadiums.
Can I purchase single match tickets or knock-out stage tickets?
According to the organizers, these tickets will only be available during the later sales stages in 2022.
Can I return my tickets?
There should be a portal which allows fans to return their tickets closer to the start of the tournament. However, it’s dependent on whether these tickets get resold to other spectators.
How to get around France?
I’ve used both trains and rental car to travel around France and found that both have their pros and cons. If you only plan to visit the major cities, trains are probably the best way to go. In comparison, having a rental car allows visitors the flexibility to visit places which are more out of the way.
Trains
France has a good train network which connects all the different host cities. There are also high speed trains serving Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Marseille, which greatly reduce the travel times.
It’s recommended to book the trains in advance (booking usually opens 4 months prior) if your plan is fixed; most long-distance trains require seat reservations and may get sold out. Trainline is the go-to platform to book train tickets in Western Europe and I have used them personally with no complaints.
Self-drive
The major car rental companies such as Hertz, Avis and Europcar are all present in France and it can be worthwhile to compare the rates through aggregators like Rentalcars and Auto Europe. Cars with manual transmission are usually cheaper than those with auto transmission.
Do note that the cost of gas and tolls do add up when traveling over a long distance. Michelin provides a useful tool which allow travelers to plan the route and estimate the cost of gas and tolls.
More to follow
