Just a week to wait, then. We’re into kid-at-Christmas territory; it’s time to stock the house with reachable snacks, to clear the decks on your television’s record function, and to…
Rugby World Cup
England’s bench options for Fiji
By Adam Hathaway Stuart Lancaster has made some hard calls in the last few weeks as he has whittled his squad down from 50 to 39 then to 31 for…
Fighting spirit: the problems Fiji must overcome
ON THE outskirts of Perthshire, Mosese Rauluni takes one look out of the window and shouts at the very top of his voice: “Stop the bus!” The driver slams on…
Players to Watch at the 2015 World Cup
What players should you look out for during the World Cup? Rugby World selects a player from each of the 20 teams
Fiji pose the biggest threat from the Pacific Islands
By Mark Coughlan George Smith said recently that Fiji could progress from Pool A (along with Australia, obviously) at the World Cup. Okay, it was probably said with a glint…
Scotland’s 2015 World Cup squad
The squad has only two players with over 50 caps and four with two caps or less. That is not to say the team is inexperienced; six of the final…
Rugby World Cup: the top 5 scams to watch out for
1. Fraudulent tickets Demand for World Cup tickets since the application phase opened last year has been huge, with the initial ballot stage massively oversubscribed for many games. Whilst a…
Wales 2015 Rugby World Cup squad
A regulation split of 17 forwards and 14 backs formed the 31-man Wales World Cup squad, which hail predominantly from the regions, which is a testament to the efforts of…
Rugby Statistics: How fair is the 2015 Rugby World Cup Schedule?
In 2013 World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper declared that the 2015 tournament would have “the most balanced and equitable match schedule in the history of the Rugby World Cup”.…
Rugby World debates: Paul O’Connell’s clear-out
Picture the scene: Wales and Ireland are locked at 10-10, close to the hour mark. Dublin’s Aviva Stadium is expectant. The hosts have taken a while to click into gear but are finally…