RWC bidders bring out big guns in effort to win hearts and minds

All’s fair in love and war and, it seems, the bidding process for major sporting events.

Ireland called on Liam Neeson and Bono to support their 2023 bid, South Africa leaned unapologetically on the legacy of the dearly departed Nelson Mandela, while the French somehow thought it a good idea to arrive with Jonah Lomu’s two kids.

Dhyreille and Brayle Lomu sat on the knee of Sebastien Chabal yesterday, the ex-French international explaining that the former had been born in Marseille and that they would both love to see a World Cup in a country where their late father had played.