The Essential Guide to the Rugby World Cup 2019: The World Cup is the greatest rugby show on earth and it’s being staged in Japan from September 20 – November 2. The Rugby Paper has assembled a team of star writers to give you an expert guide to the tournament: they include Jeremy Guscott, Shane Williams and Jeff Probyn; plus our stable of award-winning journalists led by Nick Cain and including Peter Jackson and Gary Fitzgerald, bring you in-depth analysis of the 20 countries taking part.