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“Scrappy it may have been for most parts, but France won’t care too much”.

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...

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.

“They’re not being arrogant, but it’s seven games – you’ve got to think you can win seven games or why are you even going?”

“We are all positive about it”, said WRU officials manager Nigel Whitehouse, who sits on World Rugby’s laws panel. “We know how good they are, but we are going out to play the perfect match and win”, he said.

Courtney Lawes insists England are braced to survive an early onslaught from Fiji out of the expectation that the Islanders will be vulnerable when Friday’s World Cup opener nears its conclusion.

“Yes, we can win the World Cup, we firmly believe we can with this squad of players”.

Dancerama principal Rebecca Mullan said: “The song is so catchy and with the World Cup around the corner, we would love to hear it blasting out of every home and stadium throughout the land to show our support for such worthy causes, and, of course, our boys in red”.

Burgess’s selection is likely to prove highly controversial, especially as Burrell was ever-present in the last two Six Nations.

Burrell, who has started in England’s midfield during the last two Six Nations campaigns, has a lot of credit in the bank but the management team are also attracted by the X-factor that Burgess brings from his outstandingly physical performances on the world stage in rugby...

England, who won the World Cup under Woodward in 2003, play Ireland in their final warm-up game at Twickenham on September 5.

A first-choice England pack endured a torrid evening at the hands of Les Bleus just seven days after being out-muscled, but not out-scored, in the 19-14 victory over the same foes at Twickenham.

Coach Stuart Lancaster’s World Cup preparations suffered a blow as for 70 minutes his preferred team of XV struggled.

The games begin with England v Fiji on Friday, September 18, and continue until Sunday, October 11, when the various winners and runners-up so far then start battling each other as we move towards the October 31 cup final.