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Rugby World Cup

'Beast' flies in for ceremonial Webb Ellis Cup handover to France

By Liam Heagney

30 May 2023

Tendai Mtawarira arrives in Paris (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/World Rugby via Getty Images)

The countdown towards the start of the 2023 Rugby World Cup ramped up on Tuesday evening when Tendai Mtawarira, the retired Springboks prop forward, arrived in Paris for the ceremonial handing over of the Webb Ellis Cup from the holders South Africa to host nation France.

It was November 2019 when the loosehead first got his hands on the famed trophy, the Springboks defeating England 32-12 in the final in Yokohama.

More than three and a half years have now passed since that memorable denouement to the brilliantly hosted Japanese tournament and ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira arrived in France on an Emirates A380 to deliver the trophy just hours before Wednesday’s 100 days to go celebrations kicked off across the country.

WATCH as South Africa’s Director of Rugby Johan Erasmus explains how they ‘parked’ their well-documented disputes with match officials

After making the journey from South Africa, the retired 117-cap was met at Charles de Gaulle airport by World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont and Jacques Rivoal, the France 2023 chairman. Mtawarira will now accompany the trophy through a programme of activities on Wednesday showcasing French culture and expertise.

The former front-rower is scheduled to pay a visit to chef Julien Duboue’s restaurant and pastry chef Christelle Brua’s workshop, while also stopping off at Montmartre and at an amateur rugby club in Gennevilliers. Mtawarira will end his Wednesday by placing the Webb Ellis Cup on top of the Arc de Triomphe, triggering a projection onto this iconic French monument and in the host cities.

World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin enthused: “Things kicked off when Tendai Mtawarira arrived with the Webb Ellis Cup in France, passing the cup from the champions to the hosts, putting the cup back up for contention for Rugby World Cup.

“These activities in themselves, never mind the tournament, have taken a lot of planning and that is a testament to the great partnership that we have got with the France 2023 organising committee, with the French rugby federation and with the French government.

“We are all driven by the common objective of really highlighting and celebrating what is going to be an incredible Rugby World Cup. We will leave you to judge the spectacular nature of that on Wednesday.”

More than 600,000 international visitors are expected to travel to France 2023 from September, a record for a Rugby World Cup. Tickets for the tournament sold out in record time with all available 2.5million tickets sold a year out. That demand will see the tournament break the RWC 2015 attendance record.

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TJ Hooker 521 days ago

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Comments on RugbyPass

FC 4 minutes ago

'Furious': X erupts as England fans drown out haka with controversial rugby anthem

Yup. The english fans and players are fantastic at getting themselves fired up for a defeat.

38 Go to comments

d 6 minutes ago

All Blacks player ratings vs England | Autumn Nations Series

he's done the same every match, needs to be pulled until he can learn the skills.

20 Go to comments

AM 9 minutes ago

'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.

Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.

Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.

Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

72 Go to comments

Bull Shark 11 minutes ago

Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss

And the knives are out already.

It’s weird watching the ABs. In the past, the passes always stuck. The offloads always stuck. There were a few times tonight they looked like scoring many more times. Maybe it’s confidence, but in time they’ll find their rhythm

England never looked like winning. Even after they went ahead. They certainly weren’t the better side. NZ’s ill discipline (again) kept England in it.

3 Go to comments

Jen 20 minutes ago

'Furious': X erupts as England fans drown out haka with controversial rugby anthem

Yeah I don't really get the kiwis who aren't okay with the singing. Not sure what they're expecting people to do. Reckon they need to take away the stupid restriction on how close the teams can get to each other during it.

38 Go to comments

Bull Shark 21 minutes ago

'Furious': X erupts as England fans drown out haka with controversial rugby anthem

Googles sweet chariot…

38 Go to comments

Bull Shark 22 minutes ago

All Blacks player ratings vs England | Autumn Nations Series

Per above, I think the way BB plays is the right thing for NZ. But his execution isn’t as sharp as it was. Until there’s a long term answer at 10, I’d like to see Roigard start with BB. Roigard looks the business.

20 Go to comments

Jen 30 minutes ago

'Furious': X erupts as England fans drown out haka with controversial rugby anthem

Of course they can all sing and do what they want. But it seems weird that the England fans have adopted a slave song from the states as 'their own culture'.

38 Go to comments

SadersMan 32 minutes ago

All Blacks player ratings vs England | Autumn Nations Series

The obvious takeaway for Razor is that neither BB or DMac are the solution. I'd hate to see an interchangeable horses for courses combo between them either. Love, Perofeta, Plummer, etc someone needs to have a breakout season in 2025.

20 Go to comments

Bull Shark 38 minutes ago

All Blacks player ratings vs England | Autumn Nations Series

His place kicking is impeccable too. The question at 10 for NZ continues.

I thought Beauden had the right ideas and was obviously playing to a plan. his execution wasn’t perfect. There were a few times he held on to the ball just a fraction to long when a pass would have put someone into a gap. But Bb is the type of flyhalf NZ needs.

I’m a huge fan of Jordan at 14. I realise he’s a very capable 15. But he’s an excellent 14 and I wonder why Dmac at 15, Jordan 14 isn’t the best option.

Either way, Dmac came on and closed the game well. Something the ABs have struggled with. I feel like he is restricted at 10 where he has to play to a type.

Cam Roigard also looks the business. I’d start him ahead of Ratima. He reminds me of Joost. Looks big for a scrum half. Even did a dive pass today that looked textbook Joost.

20 Go to comments

B 40 minutes ago

All Blacks prop punished for breaking team protocol

I thought the AB's internal standards policy was "no dickheads"? Has Razor now expanded that to include ball bags as well?

2 Go to comments

Bull Shark 41 minutes ago

England player ratings vs New Zealand | Autumn Nations Series 2024

Not too long ago Finn claimed Ford was better than any flyhalf in SA. Facts are lost on him.

4 Go to comments

AM 42 minutes ago

'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

You've made my point for me mate. They have outsourced the wages, coaching, S&C etc out to higher paying leagues and selected their OS players and won on the biggest stages. Completely proves my point and SA proved it in rugby. If they tried to keep all of those players in Argentina or Brasil they would just leave and declare for other nations, which is what is happening in Australian rugby. Meafu has declared for France and he is one of the best locks in the game. Its not artificial, just economics.