If you are searching for the details of the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony for 2023, you’ve come to the right place. Here is what to expect when the event kicks off in Paris tomorrow evening.

From the time it kicks off and where, to who will be involved, we’ve got the details for you.

Related: How to watch the Rugby World Cup opening match

What time is the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony?

The opening ceremony will take place at the Stade de France on Friday 8 September, at 8pm local time (7pm UK time) – just an hour and 15 minutes before the blockbuster opening match takes place, with hosts France facing the All Blacks.

What will the opening ceremony include?

According to World Rugby, the event will be “showcasing the very best of French culture, while kick-starting rugby’s 200th birthday celebrations”.

Oscar-winning French actor Jean Dujardin will be involved as director, as will show director Olivier Ferracci, stage director Nora Matthey de L’Endroit and more than 200 volunteers. There will be “33 high-profile guests will represent France’s unique savoir-faire in the realms of gastronomy, sports and the arts.”

It has been billed as a very French affair.

Remembering the first ever Rugby World Cup opening ceremony

The 2023 opening ceremony promised to be a very different affair to the one held at the first-ever World Cup, in 1987.

How about parades and New Zealand Brass Band Championships? Things in 1987 were far more genteel and quaint. The scenes in Eden Park ahead of New Zealand’s match against Italy feel like a lifetime ago.

What do you think the opening ceremony for the 2023 Rugby World Cup will be like? Let us know your thoughts at rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com or on social media.

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