Rugby World Cup Diary

Rugby gaming

And Twitter doesn’t disappoint. Mere hours after requesting a Playstation1 (old school, we know), and Jonah Lomu Rugby, one was found in London and somehow made its way to the Aussie’s hotel.

We’re sure the lads have gotten hours of entertainment already. Sonny Bill Williams is itching to play. He laid down the challenge claiming he’ll beat whoever wins.

Mitchell accepted but he’s already making excuses. Our money’s on the All Black. We wonder who would win if the Rugby World Cup was decided through Jonah Lomu Rugby?

It’s not just professionals

While many of the players at the Rugby World Cup are full-time professionals there are still a number of amateur or semi-professional players in the lower-ranked teams.

Samoa have just three players who are not professional, but Uruguay’s squad is almost the reverse with 27 amateurs in their squad. For many lower-paid or amateur players a World Cup is a shop window, their chance to show what they can do on the big stage and attract the attention of professional clubs.

“That’s everyone’s dream, getting a good contract,” said Samoa prop Jake Grey. “During the campaign I’m adjusting to professional rugby. When we come to this level we have to adjust a lot to keep up with the big boys. The transition from local and amateur rugby is quite a big difference and watching the boys and training alongside them, it’s really different from our level. You learn a lot.”

Canine clairvoyant

A World Cup wouldn’t be a World Cup at this stage without some four-legged or winged creature predicting the outcome. And so we introduce Puggle, a canine clairvoyant sent to separate the wheat from the chaff at RWC 2015. And with only modest success, let it be said. While it might have been howling at the moon after correctly picking Tonga to beat Namibia on Tuesday, the dog was barking mad at the way Stuart Lancaster’s England capitulated against Warrenball last Saturday, having plumped for a win for the hosts.

Lack of faith in Paloma

Almost 10,000 sports fans have signed a petition asking ITV to stop playing Paloma Faith’s Rugby World Cup song. The 34-year-old singer’s cover of World in Union has been criticised online, with people branding it “excruciating”.

Jonathan Wilson, 24, from Worcester, started the petition a week ago on Change.org. The IT worker said:

“The petition isn’t taking issue with Paloma herself. What we’re petitioning against is ITV’s decision to use the song in their coverage, and the regularity with which it is forced upon our gentle ears.” He said he would present ITV with the petition if it reached 10,000 signatures, adding that the TV channel was yet to contact him.

On a Facebook group set up to provide updates about the petition, one user wrote:

“I quite like Paloma Faith but her rendition of this song is excruciating and is not made any better by blasting out one line of the song at every commercial break.” A spokesman for ITV said: “We are happy with Paloma’s rendition.”

— Compiled by Eileesh Buckley