• Live audio and text commentary of all 48 games across BBC Radio 5Live, Sportsextra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website.

• A Rugby Union Daily podcast on BBC Sounds every day of the tournament will cover the big stories and debates.

• A brand new Rugby World Cup Top Ten series available on BBC Sounds from today features World Cup winners Matt Dawson and Bryan Habana debating the best moments from past World Cups.

• World Cup winning captain Martin Johnson will be part of the BBC World Cup coverage.

The BBC has announced its most comprehensive audio and digital offering ever for audiences who want to keep up with all the action and stories from the forthcoming Rugby World Cup in France.

The tournament kicks off with France vs New Zealand on Friday 8th September in Paris and the BBC will provide live commentary and coverage of all 48 matches across BBC Radio 5Live, 5 Sportsextra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website.

Commentary is led by Chris Jones, Sara Orchard and Andrew Cotter with Gareth Lewis, Alastair Eykyn, Conor McNamara and James Burridge.

Sonja McLaughlan heads up BBC Radio 5Live’s presentation team and will be in Paris and Marseille for the huge opening weekend to present coverage of France v New Zealand, England v Argentina and Scotland v South Africa.

A fantastic array of rugby voices will join our live coverage and podcasts to offer expert opinion and analysis; Matt Dawson, Chris Ashton, Johnnie Beattie, Tommy Bowe, Rocky Clark, Paul Grayson, Andrew Mehrtens, Kat Merchant, Ugo Monye, Stirling Mortlock, Bobby Skinstad and Philippa Tuttiett will be with the team in France.

In addition to the live match coverage, the team will be podding every day of the tournament as the Rugby Union Daily podcast returns to cover all the stories from the World Cup with big interviews and the latest from the team camps. Meanwhile, the BBC Sport website will have all the news, match reports, in-depth analysis and expert punditry for the four home nations.

Also launching today (Tuesday) on BBC Sounds is a special Rugby World Cup Top Ten podcast series where World Cup winners Matt Dawson and Bryan Habana join Chris Jones to discuss, rank and get stuck into the biggest and best World Cup debates like best match, best try, biggest upset, World Cup icon and more.

To mark twenty years since England’s historic World Cup win, Matt Dawson will look back on the triumph while their winning captain Martin Johnson will make special appearances throughout the tournament, starting with All About Martin Johnson on Wednesday 6th September, an in depth interview with Mark Chapman where he discusses his career at length.

And in another special programme Sara Orchard examines the impact of climate change on rugby union as she speaks to former Australian star turned activist David Pocock amongst others.

Notes to Editors

• All ten episodes of Rugby World Cup Top Ten are released this week exclusively on BBC Sounds

• Rugby Union Daily – launches Monday 4th Sept with Chris Jones on BBC Sounds

• All About Martin Johnson – Wednesday 6th Sept at 8pm with Mark Chapman

• 5 Live’s World Cup Preview – Thursday 7th Sept at 7pm with Sonja McLaughlan

• Rugby Tackles the Climate Challenge – Thursday 7th Sept at 9pm with Sara Orchard

• BBC Scotland, BBC Ulster and BBC Wales will all have bespoke programming throughout the tournament