World Rugby and the France 2023 Organising Committee have announced that the Palais Brongniart in Paris will host the Rugby World Cup 2023 Draw.
The Draw will be pushed back from the previously announced date by two weeks to 14 December 2020 owing to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on rugby and event hosting activities.
The surprise news came as World Rugby confirmed seedings for the draw will be determined based on the world rankings in January 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said: “While COVID-19 means that, in the interests of fairness for all qualified teams, we have needed to draw a line under the rankings at the beginning of the year, everyone should appreciate that this is a unique time, we can’t delay, and we must continue to accelerate planning for what is going to be a truly spectacular and special Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.
“The RWC 2023 Draw will be a greatly anticipated beacon of hope and excitement as we look towards France 2023 and beyond the global pandemic.”
The seedings for the 2023 Rugby World Cup draw;
Seed 1: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales
Seed 2: Ireland, Australia, France, Japan
Seed 3: Scotland, Argentina, Fiji, Italy
Seed 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Americas 1, Asia / Pacific 1
Seed 5: Africa 1, Europe 2, Americas 2, Final Qualifier Winner
JOIN THE RUCK:
The talented wives and girlfriends of the England squad
The equally talented women behind the England internationals.
1.Michelle Cussell
Elliot Daly met his partner at the £18,618-a-year Whitgift School for boys in Croydon, south London, where the Saracens star was a pupil and she worked as a sports events organiser.
2. Secret future Mrs Genge
The prop, who likes to keep his private life well hidden, shared a gender reveal video of the pairs first baby on his Instagram, but made sure to keep his Welsh girlfriends face out of frame. She is reportedly studying Law.
3. Charlotte Youngs
The beautiful wife of Ben Youngs works as a cosmetic nurse at an upscale Leicester clinic. The pair have two young children, Boris, four, and two-year-old Billie. With a private Instagram account, Charlotte clearly definitely prefers to stay away from the media spotlight.
4.Sophie May
The Personal Trainer in Market Harborough married the England speedster three years ago. Sophie earns her living as a personal trainer, posting regular updates on the Girlsontopoffitness Instagram page.
5. Jessica Lawes
The pair have two children together called Nelly and Teddy. She often shares photographs of her adorable youngsters on her Instagram page, which has over 7,400 followers. Glamorous Jessica also has another sideline in her portfolio career, developing properties.
6.Simmone Vunipola
The pair flew to Tonga and admitted that their wedding in 2019 wasn't without stresses. Vunipola said afterwards: 'The wedding was awesome and I’m obviously very happy to be married to my wife.
He added: 'My family are very demanding in terms of all the traditional things. I’ve grown up my whole life in the UK, so it was tough to get my head around that.'
7.Eloise Harris
The American events planner has been the better half of England star Anthony Watson for a number of years now. The two are now expecting their first child.
8.Georgie Farrell
Despite being one of the games' global superstars, his wife has chosen to keep her life extremely private. The couple, both 28, tied the knot in the summer of 2018 and Owens better half gave birth to their son, Tommy, in March.
The Rugby World Cup 2023 pool draw will take place in Paris at Palais Brongniart on 14 December 2020.
The World Rugby rankings as of 1 January 2020 will be used to determine seedings.
Full info here: rug.by/2023Draw