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England coach Stuart Lancaster admitted his relief after his team started their World Cup campaign with a win.

Frederic Michalak kicked 19 points as France began the Rugby World Cup with an easy 32-10 win over Pool D rivals Italy.

Former England hooker Brian Moore slammed television match official (TMO) Shaun Veldsman for the length of time he took to make decisions in the Rugby World Cup curtain-raiser.

Georgia captain Mamuka Gorgodze led his country to just their third World Cup win with a 17-10 upset success over Tonga in their Pool C opener at Kingsholm, Gloucester on Saturday.

Lancaster said: “I thought Browny was excellent”. We have to be more direct, we were a little bit lateral.

The 11 All Blacks marking their first RWC appearance are Ben Smith, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Julian Savea, Aaron Smith, Brodie Retallick, Dane Coles, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Sam Cane, TJ Perenara and Beauden Barrett. “But it also means they know a lot more about...

“Since being successfully selected as a team base over 12 months ago, the club’s off-field staff have worked extensively with Darlington Council, Rugby World Cup and the All Blacks“, said Mowden Park managing director Lee Rust.

Full-back Williams, meanwhile, has not played since the end of last season due to a foot problem, and his Scarlets colleague Lee has been sidelined since suffering an Achilles injury during Wales’ RBS 6 Nations victory over Ireland six months ago.

England are heavy favourites to beat Fiji in Friday’s opening game of the Rugby World Cup at Twickenham, so simply putting money on the hosts to win may not be the best betting option. We got a good lead but didn’t put the nail in the coffin. “We played into...

Sean Maitland has dismissed the controversy around foreign players in the Scotland squad by insisting that he will be playing in his first World Cup as a tribute to his Glaswegian grandparents and dad.

Uruguay first five Felipe Berchesi is relishing the once-in-a-lifetime experience of playing Wales in his team’s opening Rugby World Cup match in Cardiff on Monday morning.

Would you rather be England’s captain or coach for this World Cup? The game is for playing.

That they are favored to achieve both of those objectives in Britain would seem to greatly add to the pressure.

“The All Blacks haven’t won it out of New Zealand and that’s something that, at some stage, someone will do”.

Lacking serious punch in their backline is offset by their pack who are equal of most in the world, or better. That time, just to spite me, they fell over in the quarterfinals against a once-more rampaging France!