These are your rugby headlines on the day the Rugby World Cup kicks off.
Fiji to stand still
Wales’ opening Rugby World Cup opponents Fiji know their country will come to a standstill on Monday morning. The Pacific Islanders will be getting up early due to the time difference to watch their compatriots in action.
Hopes are high history can be made, with many backing the best Fijian side in memory to beat Wales and make the quarter-finals.
“It is a nation that will stand still, especially when it’s a Rugby World Cup,” said Fiji prop Mesake Doge.
“I would imagine in the villages they will be taking their television sets up onto the hills to get reception to watch the game.
“Pretty much some people won’t go to work and will just be watching the boys perform.
“For us as Fijians, rugby is such a big occasion. They say rugby can make the nation stand still, so people are looking forward to it.”
New Zealand: It wasn’t us
Coach Ian Foster distanced the All Blacks from the so-called spying scandal which has cast a shadow over the opening of the Rugby World Cup.
There were reports in the Telegraph that an unnamed tier one nation had sought clarification from World Rugby over sanctions for spying. It suggested there were concerns over certain teams using the tactic to covertly monitor opponents’ training sessions in recent years. You can read Warren Gatland’s thoughts on it here.
When the press asked Foster about it, he quickly gave the question short shrift. “No, I haven’t heard of that,” he said. “It wasn’t us. Was anyone spying on us? I guess it’s ‘Welcome to the World Cup’. It’s that simple. There’s lots of pressure on, people react in different ways. It’s an exciting time, everyone is looking for an edge. I’m not sure where that’s coming from. I’m pretty confident we’ve been training alone, but who knows?”
Wales have been though ’15 weeks of hell’
Wales star Corey Domachowski says he and his team-mates have been through “15 weeks of hell” in their build-up to the World Cup.
Gatland took his squad to Switzerland and Turkey this summer to prepare his players for the rigours of the tournament, with Domachowski describing it as “absolutely savage”.
But, he added, all that pain has been worth it, with the work on the training field likely to translate onto the pitch.
“Like I’ve alluded to, we’ve trained hard for this,” he said.
“We’ve had 15 weeks of hell to be honest. It’s been absolutely savage. And I genuinely think if we put what we’ve done on the training field onto the playing field then we are going to be a tough team to beat.
“That’s something Gats and the other coaches have drilled into us. We are not going to worry about any opposition. We know we’ve got quality in the squad. There’s a lot of competition in that squad, and whoever goes on the field will give everything they’ve got for that jersey. We’ll put our best foot forward, and we are going to be a tough team to beat.”
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Robinson: Wales could surprise
England World Cup winner Jason Robinson says the lack of expectation surrounding teams like Wales and England could actually work in their favour ahead of the tournament.
Both sides head into the competition in questionable form but as they both reside on the easier side of the draw, Wales and England could yet have something to say at this World Cup.
Wales’ off-field changes and the departure of senior players into retirement won’t have helped matters but Robinson feels they can be a match for anyone of their day.
“They’ve obviously had a lot of changes,” he said of Wales’ chances. “Warren Gatland has gone out and come back in, people thought they would go back to winning ways and it’s not been the case yet. You’ve then got senior players like Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones retire, so that’s a lot of experience taken out of the team.
“But I’ve always found over the years, even though they’ve not been playing well, when you write them off they go and surprise you.
“I think in some ways this is what’s going to make this World Cup more interesting, because you’ve got teams like Wales, England and Australia not in form, but they can beat anybody on the day if they get it right. There’s not as much expected of these teams, but they’ll want to prove everybody wrong and put in a big performance.
“But it’s going to be very tough, especially when you look at their pool with Australia, Fiji and Georgia. With Fiji beating England, they’ll have their tails up. They have nothing to lose, they will play, they’ll take you on. Write them off at your peril.”