For 2007 Rugby World Cup ticket sales click here: www.2007rugbyworldcup.net

France hosts the sixth Rugby World Cup's final tournament in September and October 2007.

The IRB has announced that France has won the right to host the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The vote was won by a margin of 18 votes to three. The French bid allowed for some matches to be played outside France. As a result, Murrayfield, Lansdowne Road and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will also hold group games.

The French Rugby Union has presented the first previews of Rugby World Cup 2007.

The Tournament will take place from 7 September 2007 to 20 October 2007. There will be 20 teams, divided into four pools of five, at the 2007 RWC.

The four semi-finalists from 2003 will head the pools:

• England, the current world champions, in Pool 1
• Australia, the runners-up in 2003, in Pool 2
• New Zealand, who came third, in Pool 3
• France, who ended fourth, in Pool 4.

The 48 matches will be played at 13 venues - 10 in France and three abroad. The French venues will be in:

• Lens (Nord-Pas-de-Calais)
• Paris
• Saint-Denis
• Nantes (Pays-de-la-Loire)
• Lyon (Rhone-Alpes)
• Saint-Etienne (Rhone-Alpes)
• Montpellier (Languedoc-Roussillon)
• Marseille (Provence)
• Toulouse (Midi-Pyrennes)
• Bordeaux (Aquitaine)

The foreign venues will be Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff.

All the host French pool cities are connected by the French train Network TGV and the airports are only half an hour away from the centre. The Parisian capital will accommodate matches at the Stade de France and the Park of the Princes (Parc des Princes).

The most obvious and economic thing to do is to book a house central to the venues and catch the TGV into the cities. Your English, French speaking hosts can help you organise your train tickets. www.franceonecall.com

If you are renting self-catering Bed and Breakfast accommodation, hiring a car may be the best way to get around as well as see the stunning French scenery.
Cheap car hire can be found at www.hire-cars-france.co.uk

Play off pools

Pool A	10 Matches from 07 Sep - 29 Sep 2007
Location:	Saint Denis, Edinburgh, Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Toulouse, Montpellier
Teams:	ENGLAND, SOUTH AFRICA, OCEANIA 1 (poss Samoa), AMERICAS 3 (Poss USA), REPECHARGE 2 (poss Tonga)

Pool B	10 Matches from 08 Sep - 30 Sep, 2007
Locations:	Paris, St. Etienne, Saint Denis, Lyons, Bordeaux, Nantes, Marseilles, Toulouse
Teams:	AUSTRALIA, WALES, OCEANIA 2 (Poss Fiji), AMERICAS 2 (Poss Canada), ASIA 1 (Poss Japan)

Pool C	10 Matches from 08 Sep - 30 Sep, 2007
Locations:	Montpellier, Dublin, Lens, Marseilles, Lens
Teams:	NEW ZEALAND, SCOTLAND, EUROPE 1 (Poss Italy), EUROPE 2 (Poss Romania), REPECHARGE 1 (Poss Spain, Russia, Uruguay)

Pool D	10 Matches from 08 Sep - 30 Sep, 2007
Locations:	Lyons, Cardiff, Saint Etienne, Paris, Saint Denis, Lens
Teams:	FRANCE, IRELAND, AMERICAS 1 (Poss Argentina), EUROPE 3 (Poss Georgia), AFRICA 1 (Poss Namibia/Zimbabwe)

Quarter Finals:

The top 2 in each Pool above qualify for the Quarters

• 1st Pool C v 2nd Pool D ( Cardiff 06 October )
• 1st PoolB v 2nd Pool A ( Venue TBA, 07 October )
• 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B( Venue TBA, 06 October)
• 1st Pool D v 2nd Pool C ( Venue TBA, 07 October)

Semi Finals:

13 October and 14 October Venues TBC

Play Off 3rd and 4th Teams from the Semi's: 18 October, Saint Denis, Stade de France

For 2007 Rugby World Cup ticket sales click here: Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup 2007 will be staged across 13 cities in France, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and will be drawing on a number of strategies and themes developed for Rugby World Cup 2003.

The French proposed a tournament unchanged from that in Australia involving 20 teams and 48 matches running from September 7 to October 20, 2007. They offered Wales, Scotland and Ireland three first-round matches each, with a quarter-final in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

The Stade de France is to stage two quarter-finals, with the other two being played at Cardiff and Marseille. Both semi-finals, final and third place play-off will be held at the 80,000-capacity Stade de France, where the 1998 football World Cup final was held.

From the end of Rugby World Cup 2003 there were only 1,384 days to RWC 2007!

THE VENUES OF RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007

City/Town	Stadium Capacity
Bordeaux	32,600
Lens	41,800
Lyon	41,500
Marseilles	60,000
Montpellier	32,500
Nantes	38,000
Paris	44,000
Saint-Denis	80,000
Saint-Etienne	35,600
Toulouse	35,700
Lansdowne Road,Dublin	50,000
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	75,000
Murrayfield,Edinburgh	67,500

Organisers of the 2007 Rugby World Cup have announced that the Pool B encounter between Wales and Australia will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The French Rugby Federation - who will host the RWC - have also given games to Scotland and Ireland, but have announced that the Millennium Stadium will also be the only venue outside of France to stage a quarter-final.

Wales will host three pool games and one quarter-final. Wales' other two Pool games, plus any knock-out fixtures (including quarter-finals) that they might reach, will be played in France. The unions of Wales and France have also agreed to stage a pre-World Cup warm-up match between their two countries at the Millennium Stadium in the summer of 2007.

For 2007 Rugby World Cup ticket sales check out the links in the right hand margin.

Here's our predicted England 15.

Email us your predictions for your own National team including the reasons why. Send to worldcup@whereonearthgroup.com and we will publish the best.

• [15] Josh Lewsey : Full-back, Wasps Jason Robinson was pushed out of his position of choice by Lewsey, but Lewsey proved his metal in the build-up to the World Cup and Woodwards faith him him proved justified. The number 15 shirt will be his for the long-term after scoring five World Cup tries after his performance with fellow back-three runners Robinson and Cohen.
• [14] Marcel Garvey Right wing, Gloucester Garvey will have tuned 24 by the time World Cup kicks off in France but has already shown a lot of potential for England A and the Kingsholm supporters. Built like a tank his speed is something else - and he has repeatedly out paced the opposition defences in the Premiership.
• [13] Stuart Abbott Outside centre, Wasps Grew up in South Africa but is now England to the core. The "Silent Assassin" has chosen to represent the land of his mother. It was another South African - Joel Stransky - who was lured Abbott to England and Leicester during the 1999 World Cup. In England's tournament squad in 2003 he looked a devastating every time he got his hands on the ball.
• [12] Ollie Smith Inside centre, Leicester Many called for Ollie Smith to make it into Woodward's side for the 2003 World Cup, but Woodward opted for the likes of Mike Catt. Woodward got it right, but Smith has proved himself to be world class in the England shirt. Impressive as a replacement in the Six Nations against Italy he would appear to be a certainty for a centre partnership with Abbott.
• [11] Ben Cohen Left wing, Northampton Only a fool would best against Cohen not being picked for the team sheet. Cohen looks certain to be a key player for England in 2007. Cohen was not at his best in 2003 but his form has improved enormously since then. There will be quicker runners in 2007 - Joe Rokocoko for one - but Cohen's tackling, strength and his exceptional work-rate make up for that.
• [10] Jonny Wilkinson Fly-half, Newcastle Unquestionably the world's best player. Come 2007, he will, barring injury, be leading out England. At the tender young age of 24, he seems to have been around for ever but already has over 50 caps to his name. Despite his diminutive stature, he is a fearless tackler, motivates the players around him and no one can kick a ball like Jonno.
• [9] Martyn Wood Scrum-half, Bath Wood has actually been to the World Cup before, clocking up a numerous air miles in an extremely short time. Called all the way to Australia as cover for Matt Dawson and Kyran Bracken, Wood was told he wasn't needed and he was surplus to requirements when he got there. This must have been worse than a kick in the teeth. At 30, it could be argued that he may be past his peak in 2007.
• [8] Joe Worsley Number eight, Wasps Despite Worsley's lack of maturity, something he has shown on many an occasion especially when he applauded the crowd after being sin-binned in World Cup, we think Worsley is a prime suspect. Supremely fit and aggressive, something he has to temper, and lacking the presence of Dallaglio he does have the ability to instil fear in the opposition.
• [7] Jamie Forrester Flanker, Gloucester The Yew, so called because of his strength and flexibility, marked himself out as a future star when he received the ball 20 metres from his own try line and sprinted the length of the field, outpacing Jonah Lomu en route to the try line, on his England debut against the Barbarians. If the Kingsholm fans are to be believed, this is a regular occurrence in the Premiership, and we believe the Yew will be a star at the 2007 tournament by storm
• [6] Lewis Moody Flanker, Leicester It's time Woodward gave Moody, who has been knocking on England's back-row door for what must seem an eternity to him, a chance. The Leicester player has improved enormously under Neil Back and Josh Kronfeld. Although overlooked for England's first-choice back row at the World Cup, Moody took the line-out ball which led to Jonny Wilkinson's tournament-winning drop goal.
• [5] Ben Kay Lock, Leicester Kay benefited from a superb relationship with Johnson in England's second row and would have time to forge a new partnership with Palmer in major internationals. The Leicester lock could do with adding to his relatively slight frame for a second row and gaining further experience in this position. Come 2007, when Woodward is picking his starting line-up, Kay looks to be a certainty.
• [4] Tom Palmer Lock, Leeds Having represented Scotland at under-21 level, Palmer could have been wearing the blue of Scotland in 2007. Instead, he opted for England, and was rewarded when called up for the North American tour. You can't envy him the task of filling Martin Johnson's boots and Palmer will have to bulk up to come anywhere close to making the physical impact that England's ex-captain had in the set pieces.
• [3] Phil Vickery Prop, Gloucester Having already captained England at international level, Vickery will be the leader of the scrum in our future XV. At 19 stone, he has no need to add to his huge bulk, which is already his largest asset in the set pieces. Known as "Raging Bull", he relishes the odd foray in the attack and brings much needed power to the scrum.
• [2] Steve Thompson Hooker, Northampton Thompson needs to work on his atrocious line-out throwing - the only weak aspect of his game before the 2007 World Cup. Still only 25, he has much to learn about the game. However, the former flanker has quickly learned about the rigours of the front row. Years in the back row have been good training for running in the loose.
• [1] Trevor Woodman Prop, Gloucester England carried the World Cup back in 2003, knowing that their front row could well be the same in 2007. Woodman and Vickery, will be 31 and, like a fine Margaux, props tend to improve with age. Although Vickery and Thompson are more explosive on the field Woodman, gets on with the job in hand.

For 2007 Rugby World Cup ticket sales click here: www.2007rugbyworldcup.net

It would be a crime to visit France for the Rugby and not sample the many delights that France has to offer. If your spouse is not a Rugby fan, they could be forgiven for being envious of your desire to visit France without them. So why not combine your visit with a family holiday that everyone can enjoy. Visitors descending on France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup will have the combined pleasures of seeing the foothills of the Pyrenées in Toulouse, feeling the warm breeze off the Mediterranean in Montpelier and Marseille, the splendour of the Rhone Alps in St Etienne and Lyon, the chic boutiques and cafés of Paris and the beaches of the Atlantic coast near Nantes. Plus all the regional chateaux, history, cultures and cuisines that France has to offer. There are hundreds of different ways for everyone to enjoy the 2007 Rugby World Cup.