National Neighbourhoods Tournament 2023

This tournament will focus on 6,000 children from 8 to 13 years old spread throughout France and will use rugby as an educational and insertion tool in low-income neighbourhoods, in order to engage and shine a light on existing local initiatives, alongside the French rugby ecosystem.

The France 2023 organising committee confirmed its commitment in favour of the youth living in low-income neighbourhoods in France through the launch of the National Neighbourhoods Tournament 2023. TotalEnergies, RWC 2023 Official Sponsor, has also been announced as exclusive partner of the tournament.

This tournament will focus on 6,000 children from 8 to 13 years old spread throughout France and will use rugby as an educational and insertion tool in low-income neighbourhoods, in order to engage and shine a light on existing local initiatives, alongside the French rugby ecosystem.

The National Neighbourhoods Tournament 2023 will take place in the 10 host cities and metropolises of Rugby World Cup France 2023 and will focus on 4 key moments:

Activities at the heart of neighbourhoods, to introduce children to the practice of rugby and its values, as well as introduce them to activities around the theme of citizenship.
Interactions between different neighbourhoods, to enable interactions and to promote rugby and citizenship activities.
Gatherings in each host city and metropolis, between the 10 teams with the most points collected during rugby and citizenship animations. These gatherings will be used to select one team per host city/metropolis which will participate in the national final.
A national final, taking place in Île-de-France region, during the final weekend of RWC 2023. The 10 selected regional teams will also be invited to the bronze final, at the Stade de France (27 October 2023).

The children involved in the regional gatherings will also be invited to a Rugby World Cup 2023 match in the competition’s different host cities.

To confirm its ambition to leave behind a legacy and have a positive impact, the France 2023 organising committee wishes to ensure that these children can continue the practice of rugby in their neighbourhoods after Rugby World Cup 2023.