After almost two months, it all comes down to this: the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final. You can watch the Final, plus all your favorite TV shows and movies on Sling TV.
In a hurry? The New Zealand All Blacks do battle with the South Africa Springboks at the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final on Saturday, October 28. It will air in the United States on CNBC with a Eastern kick-off. Sign up for Sling Blue + News Extra to watch it all for just $31 for the first month! Save 50% on your first month of Sling TV.
Table Of Contents
The weekend before the Final, during the Semifinals, New Zealand took down Argentina 44 to 6, while South Africa narrowly beat out England 16-15. This followed the Quarterfinals where Argentina handily defeated Wales 29-17, New Zealand had a bit more trouble with Ireland (28-24), England roundly took down Fiji (30-24), and South Africa squeaked by France 29 to 28.
The resulting Final matchup, New Zealand v South Africa, is a rugby union rivalry over a century old. The two haven’t had a match together since 1995, when the Springboks eked out a win 15 to 12 in extra time.
It should be a truly fantastic match, as both teams are the only teams to win the Webb Ellis Cup three times. Whichever wins will take the lead with a historic four RWC wins.
2023 Rugby World Cup Final Channels
This year, the Rugby World Cup Final will be televised in the United States on CNBC. Yes, the financial news channel.
The reason is American sports priorities. NBC itself will be showing college football all Saturday afternoon — can’t mess with that. USA Network, typically the NBC sister-channel to carry sports that aren’t on NBC itself, will be showing NASCAR — a legendary fanbase. So, rugby is relegated to the third-pick CNBC.
Alternately, you can watch it on Peacock (deal), NBC’s streaming service.
Streaming the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final on Sling TV
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Sling TV does not carry CNBC in its base plan ($40.00/mo). It does offer it as part of its News Extra add-on for $6/mo, but only for Sling Blue. So, when you subscribe to Sling TV, if you want that sweet, sweet Rugby Final action, you’ll want to sign up for Sling Blue + News Extra.
It’s true that Peacock is cheaper, so if you’re just looking to pick up the Rugby World Cup or the odd EPL fixture, go for it. But if you want to replace your overpriced cable package with a service that’s half the price or less, you should go with Sling TV.
It has all your favorite channels (50+, with the News Extra) and will send you a free antenna (just prepay two months) so you won’t miss any of your local stations. It also comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR storage so you don’t have to make any tough decisions on what to watch. You can stream on up to 3 devices at home and one on the go.
For more information on what a great deal Sling TV is, please check out our full review.
Wrapping Up
So join a sizable portion of the world in watching the best scrumming on the planet in Paris on Saturday, 28 October. And do your monthly TV bill a favor and watch it on Sling TV. Save 50% on your first month of Sling TV.
FAQ
Who is playing in the Bronze Final?
The Bronze Final, also called the third-place play-off, will feature Argentina’s Los Pumas lining up against the English Reds and Whites. You can watch it on Peacock on Friday, October 27 at Eastern. Like the semifinal and Final fixtures, it will take place at the Stade de France.
Who played in the opening match?
The Rugby World Cup opening match of 2023 was held September 8, immediately after the opening ceremony. The fixture was between France and New Zealand, with France (who would go undefeated the entire Pool Stage) beating out the All Blacks 27-13. It would be New Zealand’s only Pool Stage loss, and New Zealand and Les Bleus would be the two Pool A teams to advance.
Which teams qualified for the Pool Stage?
At the beginning of the RWC tournament, the 20 qualifying teams were divided into four Pools of five countries each:
Pool A
- New Zealand
- France
- Italy
- Uruguay
- Namibia
Pool B
- South Africa
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Tonga
- Romania
Pool C
- Wales
- Australia
- Fiji
- Georgia
- Portugal
Pool D
- England
- Japan
- Argentina
- Samoa
- Chile.
The French team automatically qualified as the host country. Each team was awarded points based on wins and ties, similar to the FIFA World Cup, and the top two teams from each pool advance to the quarterfinals.
Where is the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final?
The 2023 Rugby World Cup Final, like the rest of the 2023 Rugby World Cup matches, is being held in France. Specifically for the Final, le Stade de France in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris. Other venues used from around the entire country are:
- Stad de Marseille
- OL Stadium, Décines-Charpieu, Lyon
- Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Lille
- Stade de Bordeaux
- Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
- Stade de Nice
- Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
- Stadium de Toulouse.
What is the format for the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final?
The early Pool Stage is played round-robin among four pools of five teams. The top two teams from each pool advance to the Knockout Stage, while the bottom three teams are eliminated. The rest of the tournament — quarterfinals, semifinals, and Grande Final — is single elimination.
How can I watch the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final outside the US?
Almost every country will be televising the Final, it’s just a matter of finding out where it will be. Here are broadcasters for a few countries:
- Canada: TSN
- UK: ITV, STV, S4C
- Ireland: RTÉ, Virgin Media
- Australia: Stan Sport, Nine Network
- New Zealand: Sky Sport, Sky Open, Stuff
A complete list of live streams and broadcasters around the world is on the Rugby World Cup website. Note that not all broadcasters are airing all the games.
Featured photo: New Zealand and Argentina rucking the ball at the 2015 Rugby World Cup at Wembley / photo by Alasdair Massie under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr
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