All Blacks take precautions against spies

“It is hard to see your best mates injured badly”, said Roberts.”Watching that game last Saturday was frightful, to fall at the final hurdle is the cruellest thing imaginable”.

“Against any of those they would fancy their chances”.

From those teenage years in Hampshire, Brown has blossomed in to a complete player and was the standout performer for England in the 2014 Six Nations.

England legend Dallaglio says he has been hugely impressed by Ireland’s progress since Joe Schmidt took charge and believes the New Zealander’s tactical nous is the best of any coach at the tournament.

He said: “I think the squad have started to come together well during the summer and Vern Cotter seems to be a man who knows what he wants”.

His team are in a group with the hosts, England, as well as Australia, the winners of the previous two tournaments primarily hosted in Britain.

“We ordered our tickets in August previous year”.

“I have done the preparation physically and mentally, and I can completely focus on the rugby”.

Indeed the joke in Wales during their “golden age” of the 1970s was that if ever the English got organised, they would be risky. They consistently play the full 80 minutes, put their bodies on the front line, make bone-rattling tackles, and are among the first in support and at the breakdown.

Gatland said he welcomed being written off, claiming Wales – who play two of their pool games on home soil in Cardiff – are content the pressure of expectation is relieved due to the loss of a combined 78 caps of experience.

Edwards singled out a quartet of players as England’s key threats for their second match in the pool stage: the No 8 Ben Morgan, wings Anthony Watson and Jonny May, and Jonathan Joseph, whom he described as “probably in the top No 13s in the world at the moment”. And churches in England are asking for prayer as they prepare to share the Gospel with hundreds of thousands of rugby spectators.

“What we’ve specifically done is try to come up with a range of ideas, and resources to back them up, that fit into a local church’s outreach program”, Chawner said. The defending champions once again made the final, but England lost out to the mighty Springboks as they captured their second title, winning 15-6 in the final.

Critics had previously accused the All Blacks of throwing caution to the wind, thus suffering burnout before the end, but this time they took a more pragmatic approach, which is perhaps telling from their stuttering finish in the final against France and the lack of any standout points-scoring individual. And even if he isn’t. When he is around the ball something will always happen.