In just 19 days the Rugby World Cup will be upon us and the tournament that we have all be thinking, talking and dare I say it, dreaming about will commence.
Over the past few months we have been engrossed in the Warm Up fixtures that have been happening across the globe and more recently the 31 man squad announcements and boy have they have given us plenty to think about. Now, with such a short time to go, it seems only right to review some of the headlines that have been created in the build up and to also look at a few of the tournament records and statistics.
Mauro Bergamasco will play in his fifth Rugby World Cup after running out for Italy in the very first professional tournament. It is astonishing to think of the amount of individuals that have come and gone during that time and when he takes to the field for the first time during this tournament it will be a special moment. Italy's weekend clash with Scotland didn't go to plan for the Azzuri and with Wales next in Cardiff it may be a bumpy road into the tournament for Jacques Brunel's side.
Waisake Naholo may well make the most remarkable injury recovery in history in order to play a part for New Zealand. As with any pre-tournament injury the world's hearts went out to Naholo when it was announced that he had cracked his fibula on his debut against Argentina. However after having a ‘herbal treatment’ in Fiji today he was announced as part of Steve Hansen's 31 man squad and kept out Cory Jane. I wonder if whomever administered the treatment will also be on the plane to England when the All Blacks depart in a few days time?!?
Last weekend, George North, earned his 50th Cap for Wales and became the youngest player ever to do so. George was just 22 years and 320 days old when he ran out at the Aviva Stadium and in doing so eclipsed some extremely well known names on the ‘youngest list’ including Jonny Wilkinson, Sergio Parisse and Morgan Parra.
Mauro Bergamasco will play in his fifth Rugby World Cup after running out for Italy in the very first professional tournament. It is astonishing to think of the amount of individuals that have come and gone during that time and when he takes to the field for the first time during this tournament it will be a special moment. Italy's weekend clash with Scotland didn't go to plan for the Azzuri and with Wales next in Cardiff it may be a bumpy road into the tournament for Jacques Brunel's side.
Waisake Naholo may well make the most remarkable injury recovery in history in order to play a part for New Zealand. As with any pre-tournament injury the world's hearts went out to Naholo when it was announced that he had cracked his fibula on his debut against Argentina. However after having a ‘herbal treatment’ in Fiji today he was announced as part of Steve Hansen's 31 man squad and kept out Cory Jane. I wonder if whomever administered the treatment will also be on the plane to England when the All Blacks depart in a few days time?!?Last weekend, George North, earned his 50th Cap for Wales and became the youngest player ever to do so. George was just 22 years and 320 days old when he ran out at the Aviva Stadium and in doing so eclipsed some extremely well known names on the ‘youngest list’ including Jonny Wilkinson, Sergio Parisse and Morgan Parra.
From a tries scored perspective the great Jonah Lomu tops the table with 15 followed by two other Kiwis; Doug Howlett, 13, and Joe Rokocoko, 11. Rory Underwood is the top English try scorer also with 11 and two individuals that will take part in this tournament, Bryan Habana and Drew Mitchell, both have 10 and if they don't increase that tally in a few weeks time then something will have gone very wrong!!
Shifting the focus solely to the hosts; England have scored 1246 points in their Rugby World Cup history and have played 40 matches in total. Josh Lewsey’s 5 tries against Uruguay in November 2003 represent the record scored by an English individual in one fixture and that game’s result, 111 - 13, was England’s greatest ever match winning margin. Paul Grayson scored a staggering 36 points against Tonga in 1999, a game that I actually went on a school trip to see (!) and Jonny Wilkinson’s 3 drop goals against France in 2003 remain the most an Englishman has scored in one fixture.
The Rugby World Cup is the pinnacle of our sport, it always delivers hugely competitive clashes and history tells us that we will also witness an upset or two during the course of its eight weeks! An outstanding two months are ahead of us and I've absolutely no doubt that this Rugby World Cup will be a great success and that England 2015 will be one of the most intense and enthralling tournaments that we have ever seen.
