The hosts
Japan were announced as the winners of the hosting rights in 2009, beating out Italy and South Africa. It will be the first time the tournament will be held in Asia and the first time consecutive tournaments have been staged in the same hemisphere.
The tournament will be played across 12 venues, with the final to be held at the International Stadium Yokohama. The 72,327 capacity stadium also housed the 2002 FIFA World Cup final between Germany and Brazil.
However, there has been some worries around the stadium in Yokohama, which despite being an impressive enough building, may be singularly unsuited for rugby because of its nature as an all-purpose stadium with an athletics track.
The teams
19 teams have secured their place in the 2019 tournament. So far, there are eight teams from Europe, five from Oceania, two each from South America and Africa, and one each from Asia and North America.
The 20th spot in the tournament will be determined by a repechage tournament in Marseille later this year between Canada, Germany, Hong Kong and Kenya.
Only four teams - New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England - have ever won the tournament in its 31 year history.
Here's our 2019 Rugby World Cup form guide.
Where to watch
Spark and TVNZ have the exclusive rights to broadcast next year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
The World Cup marks a new era of sports TV in New Zealand, with a majority of the tournament to be broadcast solely on streaming. All the details of Spark's new streaming service have yet to be released, but here's what we know so far.
Here are the details of Spark and TVNZ's coverage of the tournament:
• Live streamed or on-demand coverage of the 2019 RWC.
• The service will be accessible to customers of all New Zealand broadband and mobile providers, not just Spark.
• Packages will include a tournament pass and individual match passes.
• The deal means only seven matches will be screened live on TVNZ free-to-air.
The odds
One year out, the TAB has the All Blacks as overwhelming favourites to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup at $1.90. Ireland ($5.50) are the next favourites followed by England ($8). Australia and South Africa both slot in at $10.
