WALES will have to overcome Australia if they are to progress from the group stages of the Rugby World Cup in 2023.

The draw for the France 2023 pools was conducted earlier today.

Wales will feature in Pool C in the tournament.

The other teams making up the remainder of Pool C are Fiji, Europe 1 and Qualifier Winner, with the latter two to be revealed upon completion of the preliminary stages of the competition.

Wales were drawn alongside both Fiji and Australia at the last World Cup, Japan 2019, too.

During that competitions pool stage the three nations faced off in Pool D.

Wales finished victorious against the Wallabies on that occasion, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

The match in Tokyo finished 29-25 to Wales.

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They had a slightly easier time of it against Fiji, winning by a margin three times larger than that against Australia.

The Wales-Fiji match finished 29-17 to Wales.

Elsewhere in the draw, hosts France have been drawn alongside the All Blacks in Pool A.

New Zealand finished in third place at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

Italy are the only other confirmed team to have been drawn in that pool.

Pool B will see Ireland and Scotland face off for a chance to progress.

However, both will also have to contend with current world champions South Africa if they want to stand any chance of going through.

The final home nation, England, have been drawn in Pool D.

They will be looking forward to clashes with Argentina and Japan.

Eddie Jones' England, beaten finalists last year in Japan, will also be joined in their group by qualifiers from Oceania and the Americas.

The 10th edition of the tournament will take place from September 8 to October 21, 2023 at nine venues across France.

The coronavirus pandemic's impact on international rugby this year meant teams were seeded based on World Rugby's official rankings 11 months ago as some teams, including South Africa and Japan, have not played in 2020.

Wales, who have dropped from fourth to ninth in the rankings this year, were one of the countries to benefit as they were included among the top seeds.