Friendly viewing times for fans in NZ

New Zealand fans won’t have to burn the midnight oil too much when following the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Unlike the 2015 RWC in England, many of the games have kickoff times suitable to New Zealand’s time zone, with Japan four hours behind.

The All Blacks open the tournament against their toughest opponent in their pool, South Africa, in Yokohama on September 21, with a New Zealand kickoff time of 9.45pm.

Then it’s a late one against the tournament repechage winner at

11.15pm on October 9 at Oita, but subseuent kickoffs become more Kiwi-friendly.

The All Blacks then play the top African qualifier at 5.45pm on October 6 in Tokyo, then have another 5.45pm kickoff against Italy on October 12 in Aichi.

If the All Blacks top their pool, they will play in the fourth quarterfinal, on October 20 at

11.15pm. The third quarterfinal is earlier that night at 8.15pm.

The other two quarterfinals are at the same time the previous night.

The first semifinal is on October 26 at 9pm and the second is the next day at 10pm, which is the one the All Blacks will be in if they top their pool and win their quarterfinal.

The World Cup final will be at

10pm on November 2.

The tournament opens on September 20 with a 10.45pm kickoff between hosts Japan and the top European qualifiers in Tokyo, where there is likely to be a lengthy opening ceremony beforehand.

In other big pool games, France play Argentina at 7.15pm on the same day, Ireland play Scotland at

7.45pm a day later, Australia play Wales at 8.45pm on September 29, England play Argentina at 9pm on October 5 and England play France at 9.15pm on October 12.

Meanwhile, England coach Eddie Jones says there are ‘‘no excuses’’ for his team not to win the tournament. England are in a tough pool C with France, Argentina, the United States and Tonga.

‘‘We have no excuses,’’ Jones said. ‘‘In an ideal world, if you wanted to set it up, that’s how you would do it [to build through the pool].