The Rugby World Cup begins September 8, and NBC Sports has the action on Peacock, CNBC and NBC. Host France takes on New Zealand Friday, September 8, kicking off at 3:15 ET on Peacock.
Peacock will stream all 48 World Cup matches. CNBC will have 15 live matches and NBC will air four encores, including two quarterfinals and the final.
The World Cup concludes October 28 with the final at Stade de France, just north of Paris.
The U.S. did not qualify for the World Cup. With two qualifier matches against Chile, the U.S. was on the short end of a point differential, a 52-51 heartbreaker, and so had to play in the Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai last November. Portugal won the four-team tournament, and got the final spot in the World Cup.
South Africa is the reigning World Cup champ, defeating England in the final of the 2019 World Cup. New Zealand’s All Blacks finished in third.
The 2023 World Cup has four pools of five, with each team playing the other four teams in their pool. The two top teams in each pool move onto the quarterfinals.
Former U.S. captain Dan Lyle will be a studio host with Alex Corbiserio, who played for England. Lyle captained the U.S. in the 1999 World Cup and also participated in the 2003 World Cup.
Ireland is ranked tops in the world, ahead of New Zealand, then France, then South Africa, Scotland, England, Argentina and Australia.
NBC will rerun the World Cup final October 29, a day after it happens live, at 12 p.m. ET.
