The Rugby World Cup Is Upon Us

It was the thighs that had it for Warren Gatland when he first saw George North in action.

“A lot of it [marketing] has been supercharged around the World Cup there’s no doubt about that and a lot of investment at the club level has been put into engage in that surge of interest and absorb that growth and capacity”.

Canada take on Italy today and Scotland take on the US tomorrow with motorists yesterday warned to expect delays and plan their journeys ahead of the matches. He said ‘How much will I spend?’ I said, at that stage, ‘I don’t care!’

Steve Hansen’s men toiled somewhat in their opening game against Argentina on Sunday, trailing in the second-half before eventually winning 26-16, but McBride thinks they once again have the look of champions. “They are like a tag team, where there is one, there is the other”. The next problem after that is where the ball is going next and probably that is going to be out wide because you have been sucked in. That has been put to me for the last two seasons and I imagine it is something I will have until the end of my career.

“It has generally been about working out where I can be a pain”, added North, who this year spent several months out of rugby because of a series of concussion injuries.

Steven Bellamy, 31, came up with his “Welsh only” bar because he wants to avoid any England supporters throughout the big games.

“Watson and May have been playing exceptionally well”, he says.

We see clips of Wilkinson as a rugby-mad youngster at Farnham RFC and Wandsworth College, get background on rugby’s overnight move to becoming professional sport and the arrival of Woodward as England coach, a tabloid scandal surrounding new captain Lawrence Dallaglio and players going on strike over image rights. They’re known for it, but they also have an atmosphere on match day that’ll rival any big pub. We played some good rugby, but we were just inconsistent.

Twickenham is undoubtedly the place to be this weekend for a meeting that could well decide which team goes through to the last eight, from a Pool that also includes Australia. “It is the time you want to be shining”.

The giant wing was only 19-years-old when he helped Wales reach the semi-finals in New Zealand four years ago. He was 19 then but, like a number of the side to face England, has gained experience and maturity in the years since and the last team to defeat a full-strength Wales was England back in February at the Millennium Stadium.

“I just had a few caps to my name, and it was just a massive learning curve as to what to do and getting my preparation right“.

The UK Anti-Doping Agency has said there is a “very high” risk of cheating in rugby union – as a day of awareness calls on players to keep the sport clean.

“Moving to Northampton has been good for me”.

On the man who masterminded back-to-back Six Nations titles, McBride said: “We’re very fortunate in Ireland at the moment that we have an excellent coach who doesn’t get carried away with stupid things”.