Pool A of the 2023 Rugby World Cup began on 8 September 2023 and concluded on 6 October 2023. The pool included hosts France and previous three-time champions New Zealand, along with Italy, Uruguay and Namibia. Hosts France and New Zealand, whom France had defeated in the opening match, qualified from the pool.

Teams Team Band Confederation Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Previous bestperformance World Rugby Rankings 1 January 2020 4 September 2023 A1 1 Oceania Top 3 in 2019 RWC pool 6 October 2019 10th 2019 Winners (1987, 2011, 2015) 2 4 A2 2 Europe Hosts 15 November 2017 10th 2019 Runners-up (1987, 1999, 2011) 7 3 A3 3 Europe Top 3 in 2019 RWC pool 8 October 2019 10th 2019 Pool stage (1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019) 12 13 A4 4 South America Americas 1 9 October 2021 5th 2019 Pool stage (1999, 2003, 2015, 2019 18 17 A5 5 Africa Africa 1 10 July 2022 7th 2019 Pool stage (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019) 23 21 Notes

Overview The opening match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup was played between hosts France and three-time champions New Zealand. France won 27–13, courtesy of tries from Damian Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet. Mark Tele'a scored the first try of the tournament for New Zealand after less than two minutes, making it the quickest try in an opening match of a Rugby World Cup. The loss was New Zealand's first ever in the pool stages of a Rugby World Cup. The next day, Italy won their opening match against Namibia by a score of 52–8. On 14 September, Uruguay played their first match of the tournament against hosts France, which France came out victorious with a scoreline of 27–12. The next day, New Zealand bounced back from their opening day defeat against France with 11 tries over Namibia in a 71–3 victory, despite losing Ethan de Groot to a red card for a dangerous collision. Five days later, Italy recorded a 38–17 bonus point victory over Uruguay, following a second-half comeback which previously saw them trail 17–7. The next day, France recorded their largest ever victory in a 96–0 victory over Namibia to move them on the brink of qualification to the knockout stage, while officially eliminating Namibia from the tournament. Thirteen tries were scored by France, who lost captain and key player Antoine Dupont to an injury from the match.

Namibia played their final match of the tournament against Uruguay in Décines-Charpieu. Namibia went ahead with two early tries from Gerswin Mouton and J. C. Greyling, along with successful penalties and conversions from Tiaan Swanepoel. However, Uruguay turned it around in the second half with tries from Baltazar Amaya, Santiago Arata and Bautista Basso to earn the Uruguayans their first victory of the tournament in a 36–26 victory and deny Namibia their first ever victory in a Rugby World Cup. Two days later, New Zealand faced Italy knowing that a defeat would mean that they would be eliminated from the World Cup at the pool stage for the first time ever. However, the All Blacks came out comfortable winners in the end as they starred in a fourteen-try show in Décines-Charpieu to move to the brink of qualification to the quarter-finals. Aaron Smith scored a hat-trick of tries after just 34 minutes in the bonus-point victory.

In the final matchweek of the pool, New Zealand and Uruguay faced off in Décines-Charpieu for their final matches to try and push for a place in the knockout stage. The All Blacks ran out comfortable winners, inspired by Damian McKenzie who scored two tries and kicked two conversions, in a 73–0 victory that officially saw them qualify for the quarter-finals while officially eliminating Uruguay from the tournament. All that remained in Pool A was the final match between hosts France and Italy to officially decide who would join New Zealand in the knockout stage. Both sides were assured to finish in the top three, meaning they were both assured a place in the 2027 Rugby World Cup, along with the All Blacks. The final match of Pool A took place the following day, with France sweeping aside Italy with a 60–7 scoreline in Décines-Charpieu with eight tries in a match to ensure that France qualified as they topped Group A, New Zealand qualified in second and Italy suffered elimination from the tournament as they finished third, but qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Standings

Matches France vs New Zealand

FB 15Thomas Ramos RW 14Damian PenaudOC 13Gaël FickouIC 12Yoram Moefana LW 11Gabin VillièreFH 10Matthieu JalibertSH 9 Antoine Dupont (c) N8 8 Grégory AlldrittOF 7 Charles OllivonBF 6 François Cros RL 5 Thibaud FlamentLL 4 Cameron Woki TP 3 Uini Atonio HK 2 Julien Marchand LP 1 Reda Wardi Replacements:HK 16Peato Mauvaka PR 17Jean-Baptiste Gros PR 18Dorian Aldegheri LK 19Romain Taofifénua FL 20Paul Boudehent SH 21Maxime Lucu CE 22Arthur Vincent FB 23Melvyn Jaminet Coach: Fabien Galthié FB 15Beauden BarrettRW 14Will Jordan OC 13Rieko IoaneIC 12Anton Lienert-Brown LW 11Mark Tele'a FH 10Richie Mo'ungaSH 9 Aaron Smith N8 8 Ardie Savea (c)OF 7 Dalton PapaliiBF 6 Tupou Vaa'i RL 5 Scott BarrettLL 4 Sam Whitelock TP 3 Nepo Laulala HK 2 Codie Taylor LP 1 Ethan de Groot Replacements:HK 16Samisoni Taukei'aho PR 17Ofa Tuʻungafasi PR 18Fletcher Newell LK 19Brodie Retallick FL 20Luke Jacobson SH 21Finlay Christie CE 22David Havili WG 23Leicester Fainga'anuku Coach: Ian Foster Player of the Match: Grégory Alldritt (France)

Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England) Christophe Ridley (England) Television match official: Tom Foley (England) Notes: Antoine Dupont (France) and Nepo Laulala (New Zealand) earned their 50th test caps. Sam Cane was originally named in the New Zealand starting XV as captain, but withdrew prior to the match after sustaining an injury in the team's final training session. He was replaced by Tupou Vaa'i, whose place on the bench was taken by Brodie Retallick, while the captaincy was handed over to Ardie Savea. This was New Zealand's first defeat in a Rugby World Cup pool stage fixture, and their heaviest defeat in a World Cup match. Mark Tele'a (New Zealand) scored the fastest try in a Rugby World Cup opening match, at 91 seconds.

Italy vs Namibia

FB 15Tommaso AllanRW 14Ange CapuozzoOC 13Ignacio Brex IC 12Luca Morisi LW 11Monty IoaneFH 10Paolo GarbisiSH 9 Stephen Varney N8 8 Lorenzo CannoneOF 7 Michele Lamaro (c)BF 6 Sebastian Negri RL 5 Federico Ruzza LL 4 Dino Lamb TP 3 Simone Ferrari HK 2 Giacomo Nicotera LP 1 Danilo Fischetti Replacements:HK 16Hame Faiva PR 17Ivan Nemer PR 18Marco Riccioni LK 19Dave Sisi FL 20Manuel Zuliani SH 21Martin Page-Relo CE 22Paolo Odogwu WG 23Pierre Bruno Coach: Kieran Crowley FB 15Divan RossouwRW 14Gerswin Mouton OC 13Johan Deysel (c)IC 12Danco Burger LW 11J. C. GreylingFH 10Tiaan SwanepoelSH 9 Damian Stevens N8 8 Richard HardwickOF 7 Johan RetiefBF 6 Wian Conradie RL 5 Tjiuee UaniviLL 4 Adriaan Ludick TP 3 Aranos Coetzee HK 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld LP 1 Des Sethie Replacements:HK 16Louis van der Westhuizen PR 17Jason Benade PR 18Casper Viviers LK 19Tiaan de Klerk FL 20Prince ǃGaoseb SH 21Jacques Theron FH 22André van den Berg CE 23Le Roux Malan Coach: Allister Coetzee Player of the Match: Lorenzo Cannone (Italy)

Assistant referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand) Chris Busby (Ireland) Television match official: Joy Neville (Ireland) Notes: This was Italy's largest victory (by margin) at the World Cup, surpassing their previous best of 41 points over Canada at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and also their largest victory over Namibia.

France vs Uruguay

FB 15Melvyn JaminetRW 14Louis Bielle-BiarreyOC 13Arthur VincentIC 12Yoram MoefanaLW 11Gabin VillièreFH 10Antoine HastoySH 9 Maxime Lucu N8 8 Anthony Jelonch (c) OF 7 Sekou MacalouBF 6 Paul BoudehentRL 5 Romain Taofifénua LL 4 Cameron Woki TP 3 Dorian Aldegheri HK 2 Pierre Bourgarit LP 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros Replacements:HK 16Peato Mauvaka PR 17Reda Wardi PR 18Sipili Falatea LK 19Bastien Chalureau LK 20Thibaud Flament FL 21François Cros SH 22Baptiste Couilloud FB 23Thomas RamosCoach: Fabien Galthié FB 15Baltazar AmayaRW 14Bautista BassoOC 13Tomás InciarteIC 12Andrés Vilaseca (c)LW 11Nicolás FreitasFH 10Felipe Etcheverry SH 9 Santiago Arata N8 8 Manuel Diana OF 7 Santiago CivettaBF 6 Manuel Ardao RL 5 Manuel LeindekarLL 4 Felipe Aliaga TP 3 Ignacio Péculo HK 2 Guillermo Pujadas LP 1 Mateo Sanguinetti Replacements:HK 16Facundo Gattas PR 17Matías Benítez PR 18Reinaldo Piussi LK 19Ignacio Dotti FL 20Lucas Bianchi FL 21Carlos Deus SH 22Agustín Ormaechea FH 23Felipe Berchesi Coach: Esteban Meneses Player of the Match: Maxime Lucu (France)

Assistant referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand) James Doleman (New Zealand) Television match official: Ben Whitehouse (Wales) Notes: This was the first ever meeting between these two sides at the Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand vs Namibia

FB 15Beauden Barrett RW 14Caleb ClarkeOC 13Anton Lienert-BrownIC 12David Havili LW 11Leicester Fainga'anukuFH 10Damian McKenzieSH 9 Cam Roigard N8 8 Ardie Savea (c) OF 7 Dalton PapaliiBF 6 Luke Jacobson RL 5 Sam WhitelockLL 4 Brodie Retallick TP 3 Nepo Laulala HK 2 Samisoni Taukei'aho LP 1 Ofa Tuʻungafasi Replacements:HK 16Dane Coles PR 17Ethan de Groot PR 18Fletcher Newell LK 19Scott Barrett FL 20Tupou Vaa'i SH 21Aaron Smith FH 22Richie Mo'unga CE 23Rieko Ioane Coach: Ian Foster FB 15Cliven LoubserRW 14Gerswin MoutonOC 13Johan Deysel (c)IC 12Le Roux Malan LW 11Divan RossouwFH 10Tiaan SwanepoelSH 9 Damian Stevens N8 8 Richard Hardwick OF 7 Prince ǃGaoseb BF 6 Wian Conradie RL 5 Tjiuee UaniviLL 4 Johan RetiefTP 3 Aranos Coetzee HK 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld LP 1 Jason Benade Replacements:HK 16Louis van der Westhuizen PR 17Des Sethie PR 18Haitembu Shikufa LK 19P. J. van Lill FL 20Adriaan Booysen FL 21Max Katjijeko SH 22Jacques Theron CE 23J. C. Greyling Coach: Allister Coetzee Player of the Match: Cam Roigard (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) Jordan Way (Australia) Television match official: Brian MacNeice (Ireland) Notes: This was the first ever match which New Zealand performed Kapa o Pango against a Tier 2 nation. Sam Whitelock equalled the New Zealand test cap record, with 148 caps, drawing level with Richie McCaw.

Italy vs Uruguay

FB 15Ange CapuozzoRW 14Lorenzo Pani OC 13Ignacio BrexIC 12Paolo GarbisiLW 11Monty IoaneFH 10Tommaso Allan SH 9 Alessandro Garbisi N8 8 Lorenzo Cannone OF 7 Michele Lamaro (c)BF 6 Sebastian Negri RL 5 Federico RuzzaLL 4 Niccolò Cannone TP 3 Marco Riccioni HK 2 Giacomo Nicotera LP 1 Danilo Fischetti Replacements:PR 16Federico Zani PR 17Ivan Nemer PR 18Pietro Ceccarelli LK 19Dino Lamb FL 20Manuel Zuliani SH 21Giovanni Pettinelli CE 22Alessandro Fusco WG 23Paolo Odogwu Coach: Kieran Crowley FB 15Baltazar Amaya RW 14Gastón MieresOC 13Tomás Inciarte IC 12Andrés Vilaseca (c) LW 11Nicolás Freitas FH 10Felipe EtcheverrySH 9 Santiago Arata N8 8 Manuel Diana OF 7 Santiago CivettaBF 6 Manuel ArdaoRL 5 Manuel LeindekarLL 4 Felipe Aliaga TP 3 Ignacio Péculo HK 2 Germán Kessler LP 1 Mateo Sanguinetti Replacements:HK 16Guillermo Pujadas PR 17Facundo Gattas PR 18Diego Arbelo LK 19Ignacio Dotti FL 20Carlos Deus SH 21Agustín Ormaechea FH 22Felipe Berchesi CE 23Bautista Basso Coach: Esteban Meneses Player of the Match: Michele Lamaro (Italy)

Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) Jordan Way (Australia) Television match official: Tom Foley (England) Notes: This was the first ever meeting between these two sides at a World Cup. Sebastian Negri (Italy) earned his 50th test cap. Luca Bigi was originally named as the replacement hooker on the Italy bench, but withdrew prior to the match due to injury. He was replaced by Ivan Nemer, who took the position of substitute loosehead prop, while Federico Zani shifted across to the role of hooker.

France vs Namibia