Will Martin Johnson rue the decision to allow WAGS and beers? © Getty Images

The Independent's James Lawton wades in on the WAGS debate after Martin Johnson adopted an open-door policy.

"Yesterday the Meads brothers [Sir Colin and his younger brother Stan] were honoured in a renaming ceremony for the town that Te Kuiti locals hope will draw people to their town to visit during the Rugby World Cup.

"Martin Johnson may yet thrill us all with a brilliant World Cup campaign in New Zealand. First, though, it might be helpful if he cleared up a certain point of confusion.

It came while he was announcing his relaxed attitude towards drinking, individual professional responsibility and WAG attendance at one of the most vital challenges of his career. The England manager declared: "We're dealing with blokes, adults."

Which is it, Jonno, "blokes" or adults? Unfortunately, they are not always quite the same thing and if anyone should know this better than you it is probably only Judge Jeff Blackett, the Rugby Union disciplinary chief who three years ago was required to complete a 57-point disciplinary inquiry report when the team returned from the land of the Long White Cloud – and at least one Saturday night that stretched out until 7am of a Sunday morning."

The New Zealand Herald's Chris Rattue provides his view on the ongoing Sonny Bill Williams saga.

"The All Blacks are crazy if they shut the door on Sonny Bill Williams should he choose to play rugby overseas.

The apparent shift in public opinion against Williams is staggering considering the magical effect he has had on the game, not to mention that Blind Freddy could see what New Zealand was getting.

Empowered by his aggressive management and stablemates, and through surviving the Bulldogs scandal quite nicely, he can be a law unto himself."

England's Hendre Fourie, talking to Chris Foy of the Daily Mail, is adamant he will be ready to get on the next plane to New Zealand if Martin Johnson requires him.

"As 22-minute cameos go, Hendre Fourie’s performance for England in Dublin last Saturday will take some beating. Unfortunately, it may have damaging repercussions for the Sale flanker and for the national team.

The 31-year-old openside had a scan on Tuesday on the left hamstring injury which forced him to leave the field so early at the Aviva Stadium, having made a stunning impression after his late call-up. The early prognosis is that he has suffered a grade-two tear which will keep him out for up to a month.

If that scenario is confirmed by club and RFU doctors, it will be another frustrating setback for Fourie after he narrowly missed the cut for a place in Martin Johnson’s final 30-man World Cup squad."

Mark Reason, in the Dominion Post, believes the All Blacks will only have themselves to blame if they fail to win the imminent World Cup.

"If New Zealand go out of a consecutive World Cup because of another dodgy refereeing decision, they will have no one to blame but themselves. The All Blacks no longer even bother to bend the laws. They set out to deliberately cheat.

For only one piffling syllable, CHEAT is an awfully big word. "Who are you calling a cheat?" demands the card-playing gunslinger, just before the mandatory murder and the five aces sliding from the sleeve.

The All Blacks cheat in spades. Half of their tries in the Tri- Nations have been set up by blatant cheating.

Go back to the first South Africa game just before Wyatt Crockett scored in the corner. It is hard to believe that Richie McCaw could be four yards offside and get away with it, but there he is holding back the South African lock."

Australian legend Nick Farr-Jones, in the New Zealand Herald, lauds the Wallabies' Tri-Nations win.

"The Wallabies are going into the Rugby World Cup on the back of their finest performance in more than a decade, says Australian great Nick Farr-Jones.

Australia's first World Cup winning skipper, Farr-Jones could hardly have been more impressed by the way James Horwill's men went about beating the All Blacks 25-20 in Saturday's Tri Nations decider.

The former champion halfback is also tipping Wallabies No.9 Will Genia to ultimately rank alongside the legendary Ken Catchpole as Australia's greatest-ever No.9."

Sir Colin Meads has been honoured by his home town of Te Kuiti © Getty Images

The small King Country town of Te Kuiti has been re-named Meadsville for the duration of the Rugby World Cup in honour its two favourite sons and their rugby exploits. The New Zealand Herald's James Ihaka reports.

"Yesterday the Meads brothers [Sir Colin and his younger brother Stan] were honoured in a renaming ceremony for the town that Te Kuiti locals hope will draw people to their town to visit during the Rugby World Cup.

"...In the centre of town on Rora St stands an outdoor picture gallery with several life-sized vintage photographs chronicling the brothers' playing days, when they locked the All Black scrum together in 11 matches.

"Across the road, the local hairdresser has called itself "Pinetree Trimmers", the BNZ "Pinetree's Piggybank" and the Te Kuiti Pharmacy now promotes itself as the place to get your "Meadicine".

"The Meads brothers, who were at yesterday's ceremony with their families, were clearly humbled by the ceremony."

Writing for the Independent Online, Kevin McCallum reports from the Sprginboks' official send off ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

"So,the secret is out. The man around whom the Springbok defensive line will revolve is apparently, if allegedly, a blood relation of the coach. At least that’s what Jean de Villiers told the leader of South Africa when they met at the Presidential Guest House yesterday.

"Asked by President Jacob Zuma at a farewell function if he was family of Dawie de Villiers – the former Springbok and National Party MP – South Africa’s inside centre pointed at his coach, Peter de Villiers, and said: “No, I’m related to him.” Zuma has probably not giggled so much since that little meeting in Polokwane a few years ago.

"It was a quintessential South African moment. The tall, blond, white guy from Paarl and the short, coloured man from Paarl, related via a sport and a jersey that was once the symbol of all that was white and wrong about South Africa. Four years ago Thabo Mbeki sent the Boks on their way to France and told them to let him take care of any political nonsense from back home. Yesterday afternoon Peter, he of the broader and colour-bar crossing De Villiers clan, said, with a small smile, that the president had told him the country was behind him, and if that wasn’t fact then the leader of the nation wasn’t speaking the truth.

"The truth is that the Springboks will leave for Wellington on Thursday with the hopes of 50-million South Africans and the history of 1995 and 2007 on their shoulders. The importance and the significance of rugby to South Africa, its power to divide and unite, cannot be underestimated. The pressure of leading the team that has that power is intense."

Writing for the New Zealand Herald, Michael Brown reports from the official unveiling of the All Blacks' World Cup squad.

"Graham Henry quipped when announcing the All Blacks World Cup squad last week that he didn't remember the 2007 tournament.

"He was being disingenuous, because Henry well remembers what happened four years ago and admitted yesterday their failure in Cardiff has shaped a lot of how they will approach the World Cup this time around.

"Henry is in a unique position. He is the only All Blacks coach to get two shots at a World Cup. Previous coaches have been jettisoned or walked away but Henry was given another chance by his NZRU paymasters.

"He was known as the Great Redeemer during his time as Wales coach and would love nothing more than to be viewed in a similar light in eight weeks. He will be joined by 10 players who also took part four years ago and they are determined to learn from history."

Writing in the Irish Independent, Tony Ward refuses to be too downcast on Ireland's Rugby World Cup chances.

"By any standard, it's been a bad four weeks for Declan Kidney. Yes, there are extenuating circumstances and, yes, we now have a fair whack of players with game-time in the tank, but in contrast to that there's a squad with confidence and collective morale diminishing more and more with each successive defeat.

"Ignore all that guff that says winning in August doesn't matter. In the opening two games, selection was such that winning on the road was as unlikely as it would've been expected. Coming second at Murrayfield and Bordeaux could be conceded to the bigger picture. And like almost everybody else, I bought into that. But the last fortnight has seen us drop to levels of performance unacceptable for a team with semi-final aspirations.

"We have gone from fourth to eighth in world rankings and from top team in the northern hemisphere to fifth now, with only Italy of the Six Nations teams below us. Don't tell me that a sudden dip of that magnitude doesn't impact on the overall psyche -- of course it does."

The Irish Times' Gerry Thornley reflects on Ireland's worryingly poor World Cup warm-up campaign.

"Yhey're only friendlies, warm-up games, footnotes in history, etc, and at the outset Ireland would have traded four defeats in August for four pool wins.

"Alas and alack, it was grimly evident from a long way out in Saturday’s damp squib of a World Cup send-off that Ireland would be putting that theory to the test.

"But it’s not the losses that have proved so damaging, it’s more the manner of them and the baggage that’s come with them. Ireland haven’t just lost four matches, they’ve lost confidence, they’ve lost their form and, coming on top of losing Felix Jones a week before, even more cruelly, given it would have been his last World Cup and he’s only played in one before, they’ve lost David Wallace. It left a pall of gloom over the ground which must have further affected the squad’s spirits."

The Daily Express' Steve Bale reports as England depart for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

"When rugby observers as disparate as Sir Clive Woodward and Jeff Probyn give England every chance of pushing all the way to the 2011 World Cup final, it cannot be merely an idle fancy.

"Martin Johnson and his squad of 30 players, plus another 18 management staff, left Heathrow last night for four days in Auckland before moving south to Dunedin for their first three Pool B fixtures.

"When the draw was made almost three years ago, it looked as though Johnson’s new side would require all of the intervening period to create the confidence they now have of getting past Argentina and Scotland. And so it has come to pass.

"The Pumas were a worthy third in 2007 but are ninth in the International Rugby Board rankings, with Scotland up this week to seventh from eighth, compared with England’s fifth."

Former Rugby Football Union chief executive Francis Baron calls for disrepute charges against the governing body's acting chief executive and five other board members in an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph's Gavin Mairs.

"“I believe the right way forward is for the RFU to convene a disciplinary hearing to evaluate the allegations in the Blackett review and to allow those who feel they have been wrongly accused a fair opportunity to present their case and be legally represented,” said Baron.

“It is the right way forward because it is fair to our membership, because they want to see something happen, but is it also fair to the people who have been accused of wrongdoing.

“If that happens the council has got to suspend those board members, pending the outcome of the hearing, as would happen in any other walk of life."

Nick Easter sat out Saturday's Test with Ireland though looks set to be England's first choice No.8© Getty Images

Nick Easter, talking to the Independent's Brian Viner, says he is out to banish the ghosts of 2007 in the forthcoming World Cup.

"Nick Easter, 6ft 4in tall, not far short of 19 stone and with a voice so deep and hard that it might have been quarried, has not, it is fair to assume, spent much of his adult life quaking in his sizeable boots. But it is also reasonable to assume that he was studying them intently, as an alternative to meeting the glowering eye of Martin Johnson, in the visitors' dressing-room at the Millennium Stadium nine days ago.

Easter's performance in the abject 19-9 defeat to Wales was actually one of the brighter notes for England in a World Cup warm-up match that certainly warmed up Johnson, who spared nobody the lash of his tongue. "It was," admits Easter, "one of the more incandescent rages I've seen from him. He was even angrier after he'd done all the media stuff. It was best to keep out of his way."

In his column for the Daily Telegraph, Brian Moore believes sounds of choking are coming from the southern hemisphere.

"The rest of the rugby world has every incentive to add fuel to the fires of psychological uncertainty that have recently ignited in the All Black camp, but New Zealand remain, for good reason, favourites for the tournament on home soil. However, Australia’s 25-20 win on Saturday, gave hope to a rugby world that was becoming disillusioned over the inevitability of All Black supremacy.

A superb display by Aussie openside flanker David Pocock, showed just how important it is to have a specialist in the No 7 role. Meanwhile, Will Genia proved that he is every inch the heir to the crown of world’s best scrum-half, held previously by his Australian predecessors, Nick Farr-Jones and George Gregan. Improvements need to be made in their forwards, but of all sides, Australia have fewer hang-ups about playing New Zealand and look the value for money bet for the Webb Ellis Trophy."

Jim Tucker, writing for the Courier Mail, looks at the spat between Quade Cooper and Richie McCaw.

"A relieved Quade Cooper has escaped suspension for kneeing Richie McCaw in the head but their 10-month niggle-fest will fester all the way to a potential World Cup final blow-up.

The Wallabies camp held real fears that Cooper would be rubbed out for the World Cup opener against Italy on September 11 when he fronted a SANZAR judiciary yesterday.

His right knee clearly came in contact with the All Blacks skipper's head in the 55th minute of Saturday night's pulsating 25-20 victory at Suncorp Stadium."

The Dominion Post's Toby Robson believes Victor Vito is hitting form at the right time.

"Victor Vito has been thrust into a potentially leading role ending any doubt about the fickle nature of the All Blacks upcoming World Cup campaign.

Incumbent test No 8 Kieran Read's cup hopes hung in the balance last night as he flew back to Christchurch for scans on a high ankle sprain suffered early in the 25-20 loss to the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

With utility Adam Thomson's hyper-extended elbow in a similarly precarious state, Vito has bolted in terms of both prominence and importance less than a week after leapfrogging Liam Messam into the 30-man cup squad.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry remains hopeful Read can still play at the cup, but it appears he may not be ready for the opening match against Tonga in Auckland on September 9."

The Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden reflects on the Wallabies' Tri-Nations triumph.

"The Wallabies, delighted to at last have the measure of the All Blacks, want to use what they learnt at Suncorp Stadium, in particular the importance of being arrogant, to push them to greater heights at the World Cup.

Although the Wallabies' team management are stressing that what occurred in Saturday night's Tri Nations series victory is irrelevant in regards to the World Cup, the players are not so wary, realising the victory gives them a psychological edge just days before the start of their Webb Ellis trophy campaign.

While all of New Zealand is again suffering its traditional pre-World Cup nerves following successive Test losses in Port Elizabeth and Brisbane, the Wallabies are again delighted that after a decade of being trans-Tasman also-rans they have some important silverware to show for all their hard work."

The New Zealand's Herald's resident stats expert Tracey Nelson reveals that Richie McCaw missed the most tackles during the All Blacks loss to the Wallabies.

"There were signs of what was to come in the first half when, with almost their first touch of the ball, the All Blacks were counter-rucked and conceded a penalty within the first minute of play.

The All Blacks had to defend for long periods in the first half, making a total of 84 tackles and 16 assists - which was 67 per cent of the total tackles and assists they had to make in the entire game.

Top tackler was Victor Vito with 15 tackles and two assists. Dan Carter made the least number of tackles with just one successful attempt and two misses."

Manu Tuilagi impressed for England against Ireland on Saturday © Getty Images

Former England centre Mike Catt, writing for The Sunday Telegraph, has called upon Martin Johnson to name Manu Tuilagi in the starting XV come the World Cup.

"Yesterday’s victory over Ireland may only have been Tuilagi’s second cap, but he already has two international tries to his name now and looks to possess the X-factor that England will desperately need in New Zealand.

Tuilagi looks like man on a mission. To score a try like he did at international level, you need to be pretty special. Ireland centre Keith Earls will have been disappointed with his defence, but the finish was still outstanding.

Tuilagi’s defence was impressive and his distribution is also good. The key for Johnson now is to establish who will be most effective inside Tuilagi.

I thought he worked well with Mike Tindall in Dublin, and while the partnership with Shontayne Hape was also impressive in the opening World Cup warm-up game against Wales, I would stick with yesterday’s combination for the first pool game against Argentina."

The Dominion Post's Marc Hinton believes it is time for a reality check in the All Blacks' ranks.

"It was a glaring admission from classy All Blacks centre Conrad Smith in the wake of the shock Suncorp defeat to the Wallabies. Maybe, he shrugged, New Zealand fans should be worried.

Smith had been asked following the 25-20 defeat that handed the Wallabies their first Tri-Nations title in a decade why, less than a fortnight out from the World Cup kickoff, All Blacks fans should not be worried.

But the midfield marvel surprised with his answer after the All Blacks had wasted a stirring comeback from 3-20 down to level at 20-20 heading into the final quarter. Maybe, he figured, a second straight defeat to take into the global tournament should have a few alarm bells ringing.

"Maybe they should be [worried]," said the 29-year-old who scored one try and laid on the other in the second-half fightback. "I think they need to realise its going to be a good contest which isn't a bad thing. I'm sure there will be a bit of panic."

The Guardian's John Harrington looks at the battle of the fly-halves in the aftermath of England's win over Ireland and lauds Jonny Wilkinson

"The two old gun-slingers strode into the last chance saloon both knowing they needed to prove their trigger fingers remained as quick as ever. By the time the gun smoke had cleared Jonny Wilkinson remained standing, as self-assured as ever, but Ronan O'Gara may be mortally wounded.

It is a fly-half's job to give his team direction by executing the prescribed game plan to perfection. Wilkinson did that to a tee for England, but O'Gara never looked comfortable with the orders he had been given.

England may not be all that pretty to watch and when they get to New Zealand their brand of rugby may yet be exposed as outdated, but at least they will go there with a game plan Martin Johnson's side are comfortable with and know they can impose successfully. That is why Johnson has decided to put his faith in Wilkinson. Napoleon might have liked lucky generals, but Johnson is the sort of man who has always favoured those who have the respect of their troops and know how to get the job done."

In his weekly column for the Independent, Bath prop David Flatman reflects on the pre-season just gone and the season ahead.

"I think all interviews with the press should be banned during pre-season training. I know, I know, the interviewers have a job to do and we, the players, are the subject but still, they remain a pretty pointless exercise.

The thing is, every team seems to be world-beaters before a tackle had been made or a scrummage engaged. "Training has been tough and the boys are in great shape. Team spirit is excellent." This is your standard summer answer.

I should know; I was dishing it out just yesterday when I caught myself and, after a moment of painful self-awareness, apologised to the sleepy-looking man holding the dictaphone."

Brendan Fanning, writing for the Irish Independent, believes it is crisis time for the Irish following their fourth loss in four.

"If you read somewhere in the aftermath of this, Ireland's sixth defeat in the last eight Tests, that England wanted it more than we did, then you are reading the comments of someone making an excuse for a team in desperate trouble. And they are in desperate trouble.

Ireland came to Lansdowne Road yesterday not just with those mounting losses in the rearview mirror, but around the corner was the marquee, the big top where all the best performers will be on show in a couple of weeks. And they needed to smarten up their act for that.

Immediately ahead of them was England. Beat them for the second time this year, and there was a decent chance of a morale boost that would lighten the load that's been saddled on us this month. It just got heavier, because that win in March has been confirmed now as paper over a crack."

Gregor Paul, writing for the New Zealand Herald, reflects on a Tri-Nations display which he argues showed complacency on the part of the All Blacks.

"Graham Henry's fears that his players could take an unconscious dose of complacency into the All Blacks have all but dissolved.

For the first time in the professional era, the All Blacks will come into a World Cup having not won the Tri Nations. Australia are the side with all the momentum; the team that many observers will pick as the favourites; the team who are maybe coming good at exactly the right time.

Neither Henry nor his players will have enjoyed defeat in Brisbane. Given their record over the last eight years, losing has hardly been a habit. Victory would have been nice. It would have kept the foot on the throat of the Wallabies, netted a Tri Nations and sent another ripple of confidence through the squad."

Sonny Bill Williams will sit out Saturday's Tri-Nations decider with Australia © Getty Images

The Dominion Post's Richard Knowler calls for Sonny Bill Williams to sign up before the World Cup or risk derailing his and the All Blacks' campaign.

"The longer the Sonny Bill Williams contract saga drags on, the worse it looks for the tattooed behemoth.

One thing appears certain: Williams wants to sign with the New Zealand Rugby Union and they are eager to have him.

Then it gets murky. Williams' agent Khoder Nasser wants a one-year deal that allows his player to keep boxing and also represent a rival sponsor of the New Zealand Rugby Union.

This revelation followed the admission Williams had not signed a contract – earlier comments to the media were lost in translation when it was believed he had committed – and that Nasser had offered the All Black's services to the Waratahs.

So negotiations have stalled.

This week Graham Henry said he was confident the big midfielder would re-sign but, in a telling comment, he noted the decision was not just down to the player.

He then added that maybe he had yapped too much and his comments should not be published."

Paul Rees, writing for the Guardian, believes the RFU are on the verge of civil war.

"English rugby will plunge into civil war if the board of directors at Twickenham tries to block the publication of the Blackett inquiry report into the hiring and firing of John Steele as chief executive at a meeting of the Rugby Football Union's council on Friday.

The RFU has received a motion signed by 28 council members demanding the publication of a report which raised serious questions about the governance of the Union. The council at its last meeting on 10 July backed down from making the 52-page document public after Blackett and individual members were threatened with a writ for defamation by lawyers representing the acting chief executive, Martyn Thomas, should they vote in favour of publication."

The New Zealand Herald's Wynne Gray calls for Piri Weepu to make a big impact in the final Tri-Nations Test.

"The kilos have come off, the spare tyre has deflated and certainly some centimetres have evaporated from the posterior.

It's been a tough haul for Piri Weepu, who was getting back into real trim late last year then snapped his ankle. Surgery and the convalescence bit into his fitness and frame.

Once his bones had recovered, Weepu had to get his head around finding the balance between intake and output if he wanted to make the World Cup squad.

He had all the skills the selectors wanted and more, he "saw" the game better than most in the squad and that's what they wanted. But they also needed the fit-version Weepu to help deliver those abilities."

The Irish Independent's Hugh Farrelly believes Ireland will rue the absence of their key trio ahead of the World Cup warm-up clash with England.

"Don't panic. That was the rather frenetic message from the Ireland camp this week as their torrid bout with World Cup warm-up internationals received another flurry of gut punches, with Sean O'Brien added to the injury list and Brian O'Driscoll and Rob Kearney ruled out of this afternoon's clash with England.

As 2007 proved conclusively, you cannot expect to perform at a World Cup if you go into the tournament minus any sort of momentum and, with three defeats on the bounce and five losses from their last seven outings as well as a succession of injury issues, Ireland have all the momentum of a drunken slug.

Thus, of all their frontline players, Ireland needed O'Driscoll today."

Owen Rawlings, writing for the Independent, picks his XV of players who will not be going to the World Cup.

"World Cup hopefuls all around the globe no doubt had the date 22 August pencilled into their diaries months in advance. Monday was the deadline for head coaches of the twenty international sides featuring in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand to announce their final 30-man squads for the tournament. Tough decisions had to be made and, inevitably, there were a number of winners and losers. Here we take a closer look at those players who didn’t make the final cut.

The most talked about absentee from the England camp is Riki Flutey. The British and Irish Lion failed to find a place in Martin Johnson’s squad as just one specialist inside-centre was selected; London Irish’s Shontayne Hape. Johnson also selected just five dedicated back-row forwards, meaning Sale flanker Hendre Fourie missed out. Unfortunately, Danny Care was ruled out of the World Cup two weeks ago as the Harlequins’ scrum-half sustained a toe injury during England’s 19-9 defeat to Wales."

The Daily Mail's Chris Foy previews England's final warm-up Test prior to the World Cup.

"In a fortnight, England begin their World Cup campaign, so they were supposed to be in full dress-rehearsal mode against Ireland.

Instead many members of the cast are still tussling over roles in the big production.

From Dublin to Dunedin, the long, arduous journey south should have coincided with the brief, straight-forward task of dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s of tournament planning.

Ideally, the national team would be more or less a finished article by this late stage, with the send-off fixture against Ireland providing an opportunity to apply polish.

Instead, August has been all about rotation, rotation, rotation. "

Can Manu Tuilagi strike up a match-winning partnership with veteran Mike Tindall? © Getty Images

The Indpendent's Chris Hewett reflects on England's latest selection ahead of their final Rugby World Cup warm-up clash with Ireland.

"A 13th different England centre partnership in 35 games? Brian O'Driscoll, the great Irish midfielder about to embark on his final World Cup campaign, would have been licking his lips were it not for the fact that he is licking his wounds instead. O'Driscoll will miss tomorrow's warm-up game in Dublin, the last outing before the big event in New Zealand, after failing to recover from a shoulder injury suffered during his side's defeat by France six days ago and is therefore denied the opportunity to strangle the new red-rose combination of Mike Tindall and Manu Tuilagi at birth.

"England's management team, led by the granite-faced Martin Johnson, have spent the last three and a half years bending like soft rubber in selection, twisting themselves into all manner of fantastic shapes in seeking an answer to the centre question – a question that must seem to them to be insoluble. Tindall, a World Cup winner in 2003, has played alongside Olly Barkley, Jamie Noon, Riki Flutey and Shontayne Hape in recent seasons, while a fistful of others, from Tom May and Dan Hipkiss to Shane Geraghty, Toby Flood, Mathew Tait and Matt Banahan, have partnered each other. Hell, there was even a moment when spectacularly ill-equipped Ayoola Erinle had a run in the No 12 shirt. You couldn't make it up, yet Johnson did."

The Irish Times' Gerry Thornley previews Ireland's clash with England in Dublin.

"All the best laid plans of mice and men, and all that. Declan Kidney had intended heading off to New Zealand next Tuesday with all of his squad having played at least two and a bit games but they’ve inevitably fallen short of that target, with fresh injury clouds hanging over Brian O’Driscoll and Seán O’Brien.

"Discretion being the better part of valour, the captain has not been risked in the line of fire against Mike Tindall, Manu Tuilagi and co after suffering “a stinger” in his shoulder last week, which is probably not unwise.

"As warm-up games go, tomorrow’s latest Anglo-Irish affair – with England in expressed vengeful mode for the events here last March when their Slam was spectacularly derailed – is liable to be on the warm side of roasting, so imagine the furore if O’Driscoll was ruled out of his fourth World Cup three days before departure? Better to have him under-cooked."

The New Zealand Herald's Wynne Gray insists the All Blacks must rediscover the winning habit this weekend.

"This could be the All Blacks' last serious hit-out before the World Cup quarter-finals and a broad examination of all their technical, physical and mental skills.

"They do meet France in their tournament pool, but French form fluctuates while Tonga, Japan and Canada offer solid segments to their games.

"But nothing to match what the Wallabies should bring tomorrow, a side on their own dungheap who have toned up their selections, beaten the Springboks away and had time to think and address the issues they had at Eden Park.

"The All Blacks will be edgy. They are carrying even more burdens of salvation after being beaten by the Boks last weekend.

"Twin defeats going into the World Cup will not only nibble at their confidence but pump up those who are looking to hobble them in the playoffs.

"So performance and victory are the targets tomorrow when the All Blacks go hunting for a repeat Wallaby scalp to nail the Tri-Nations title once more."

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, former Wallaby Matt Burke previews the Tri-Nations decider between Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane on Saturday.

"The expectations this weekend against the All Blacks are again incredibly high. Playing at Suncorp Stadium - fast becoming the spiritual home of rugby in Australia - with a full house and a new captain will give this game blockbuster proportions.

"The Wallabies would like a win, but how they get there is more important. Last time the Wallabies played, they were denied time and space with the ball. You could see the frustrations on players' faces.

"This week, Quade Cooper must not be the only point of attack. Whether it's No.9 sniping or No.15 using the short side, a varying attack will keep the opposition guessing. The area where the Wallabies were exposed the most was in the physicality department. This is easily rectified and comes down to adopting a mindset of ''no one in a black shirt is going to get over the top of me''.

"I like the introduction of Anthony Faingaa in the centres. It gives an opportunity to someone who brings buckets of courage and desire to hit the opposition. The goal from the 12-13 combination is to halt the progress of the attacking runners that will turn up outside Dan Carter. In Bledisloe I, the All Blacks found this way too easy."

Joost van der Westhuizen, the South African rugby player recently diagnosed with fatal motor neurone disease, is undergoing experimental stem cell therapy in a bid to slow its progress. Aislinn Laing reports for the Daily Telegraph.

"The 40-year-old former scrum half, who won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, is the first South African to test a technique pioneered by British neuroscientist Dr Steve Ray.

"The procedure is said to have produced "encouraging" results elsewhere in the world and involved the removal of fat from the stomach using the same method as liposuction.

"The substance was then sent to a stem cell laboratory where mesenchymal stem cells, which migrate to damaged tissue and repair it, were extracted. The cells were then reinjected into Mr van de Westhuizen's weak thigh and arm muscles.

"Mr Van der Westhuizen, a father-of-two who was capped 89 times for the Springboks and scored 38 tries, underwent the procedure in South Africa two weeks ago after meeting specialists in Ohio, USA, to discuss his options.

"The trip followed the confirmation in July that he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease after the US baseball player that also suffered from it. "

Judge Jeff Blackett issued a daming review of the RFU © Getty Images

In the Daily Telegraph Gavin Mairs claims that the Rugby Football Union is on course for further chaos if the board fails to publish the controversial Blackett review.

"The Rugby Football Union’s board is to face a vote of no confidence at the governing body’s council meeting next week unless it agrees to demands for the publication of the highly-critical Blackett review into the sacking of John Steele as chief executive.

"It is understood that 29 members of the 61-man council have already signed a motion calling for the Blackett review to be published at their next meeting at Twickenham on Sept 2. The motion, as it stands, is almost certain to secure the simple majority required for the action to be endorsed, given that several members are likely to abstain from the vote.

"That would put the council in direct collision course with the board, which to date has been keen to keep the 52-page review under wraps after it recommended that all the non-executive members of the board at the time, apart from co-opted member Bill Beaumont, should have resigned over their handling of Steele’s sacking and the months preceding his departure."

Chris Foy looks at England's scrum-half options and the flutuating fortune of Richard Wigglesworth in the Daily Mail

"Richard Wigglesworth has experienced wildly fluctuating fortunes in recent months - from hitting the jackpot in the Olympic ticket ballot to being the loser in a high-stakes coin-toss.

"His luck has veered one way and another but for now, the fates are conspiring in his favour again. When England manager Martin Johnson names his side on Thursday lunchtime to face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, the Saracens scrum half will be back in the No 9 berth as part of a revised half-back combination with Jonny Wilkinson.

"His selection to start another World Cup warm-up game a fortnight after his last outing ended prematurely with a bang on the head at the Millennium Stadium is proof that the pendulum has suddenly swung Wigglesworth's way again."

Sonny Bill Williams was all set to be a star of the Rugby World Cup in his homeland, but he could be restricted to a watching brief in New Zealand, writes Duncan Johnstone in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"All Blacks fans mightn't get to see too much of Sonny Bill Williams at the Rugby World Cup. The latest selection to play the Wallabies in the Tri Nations finale in Brisbane on Saturday night is another pointer to that. This isn't quite the All Blacks' top side but it's pretty close to it.

"Halfback Jimmy Cowan and top-rated No 6 Jerome Kaino get a bit of a breather after handling senior duties against South Africa last weekend and utility Israel Dagg won't be backing up either after his sensational return to test rugby after more than a year out. But there's no room for Williams in the 22 to play Australia in a match that will decide the Tri Nations title and provide both teams to stamp their authority on the eve of the World Cup. And that could be a sign of the future."

After a succession of injuries that have interrupted his international career, Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris is determined to make the most of his inclusion in Ireland's World Cup campaign. He talks to Niall Crozier in the Irish Independent.

"When Stephen Ferris was awarded a commemorative cap for Ireland's ill-fated 2007 World Cup campaign, it meant nothing to him.

"I didn't earn it, so I gave it to my mum," he says. His rejection of it is understandable, for he never played a minute in the 2007 World Cup. On the plus side, no guilt for Ireland's abject failure could be attached to the barnstorming Ulster flanker.

"Four years on, it looked like Ferris might be in for another gutting World Cup experience, with his fitness following yet more knee surgery making him a major doubt. But not having played since January 22, finally on Saturday against France he got a run-out for the last 20 minutes. That was enough to persuade Ireland coach Declan Kidney to gamble on him being ready for the rigours of the World Cup. On Monday, when the party for New Zealand was unveiled, Ferris was one of the 30."

Greg Growden believes the Wallabies will be wary of Australia's aging rooke in the back-row Radike Samo in the Sydney Morning Herald

"He hasn't started a Test in seven years. He's well past the wrong side of 30. Less than two years ago, virtually every Australian province thought he was too slow, too old for Super Rugby. But that doesn't mean the All Blacks aren't scared of him.

"Radike Samo's last Test start was Graham Henry's first Tri Nations international as All Blacks coach in 2004, and New Zealand certainly haven't forgotten the wild No.8 to the extent that, despite the long international absence, they believe he will be among the Wallabies' most dangerous weapons during Saturday night's Tri Nations decider in Brisbane.

"As All Blacks No.8 Kieran Read said yesterday: ''Radike is certainly someone who brings a bit of difference to the Wallaby back row, which they haven't had for a while.''

Carl Hayman turned his back on the All Blacks when he signed for big spending Toulon © Getty Images

Chris Rattue, writing for the New Zealand Herald, looks at those who failed to make the cut for the All Blacks

"All Blacks coach Graham Henry obsessed about sending thoughts to the blokes who missed out on World Cup selection when the squad was announced in Brisbane. So in a twist on that, these are the blokes I thought were needed for such a daunting, historic, nation-saving mission.

Carl Hayman (for John Afoa)

They're mad going into a World Cup without Hayman. Bugger the overseas rule, which the NZRU ignores anyway. Did they actually watch that test in Port Elizabeth? The All Black scrum went back quicker than Luke McAlister to Europe. Ben Franks covers the utility role, leaving the way clear to whistle up tighthead Hayman to back up mighty Owen Franks. If Owen the Ogre stays fit, they'll get away with this. If he doesn't, trouble beckons."

The Independent's Chris Hewett looks at the All Blacks squad and expresses his disbelief at the omission of star wingers Sitiveni Sivivatu and Hosea Gear.

"Everyone capable of distinguishing a rugby ball from an omelette knew the All Blacks hierarchy would omit some spectacularly good wings in finalising their squad for next month's World Cup on home soil, but when the deed was done – when Graham Henry and the rest of the New Zealand coaching staff finally revealed their hand a few hours before deadline – it was still hard to believe there was a team on earth capable of ignoring players as sensational as Hosea Gear and Sitiveni Sivivatu. Their demise made Matt Giteau's rejection by the neighbouring Australians seem humdrum.

Chris Ashton, the most talked-about wing in England, will be more than happy to see the back of Gear, against whom he experienced a seriously uncomfortable half-hour or so at Twickenham last autumn. Yet Henry, utterly ruthless when it comes to selection, had questioned the Wellington player's application in the weeks before that tour and while he was made to eat at least some of his words during the course of it, a series of lukewarm performances just lately resurrected the coach's suspicions."

The Irish Independent's David Kelly looks at the two high profile casualties following the announcement of Ireland's 30-man squad for the World Cup.

"Last Saturday morning, Luke Fitzgerald and Tomas O'Leary collected the last of their personal belongings and checked out of the Shelbourne Hotel before making the short coach journey to Lansdowne Road.

There, they would seek to make one final lasting impression upon Kidney and his coaching staff before the 30 names were appended to an email the next afternoon confirming the final World Cup squad selection.

Those who didn't make the cut would be told personally by Kidney before that.

Both Fitzgerald and O'Leary had experienced the joys of winning the Grand Slam and the Heineken Cup, but this would represent one of the biggest challenges of their professional lives, for the World Cup is the pinnacle of a rugby player's career -- a level to which neither had before managed to ascend."

The Independent's Chris Hewett provides his view on England's final 30-man squad in a picture gallery.

The Daily Mail casts its eye over 10 players to watch during the forthcoming World Cup.

"With the 2011 Rugby World Cup fast approaching, Sportsmail gives the lowdown on 10 players who we expect to star in New Zealand. Some are already household names, some you may not have heard of.

DAN CARTER (New Zealand)

The outstanding fly-half in world rugby, Carter is the single most important figure in New Zealand's bid to win the World Cup on home soil. The All Blacks' strength in depth means they could cope with losing any other player to injury, even Richie McCaw, but not their fly-half. Carter is in a league of his own - the world record points scorer with an all-round game that might just go down as the best ever. A master tactician, Carter's attacking genius has been destroying teams for the best part of a decade and he is a defensive workhorse in the mould of Jonny Wilkinson."

Joe Simpson has profited from the injury to fellow scrum-half Danny Care © Getty Images

England's scrum-half Joe Simpson, talking to the Independent's Chris Hewett, is adamant he will not holding tackle bags the whole time he is in New Zealand.

"Assuming that Joe Simpson, born in Sydney to a mother from New Zealand but raised in the home counties of England, makes his international debut for the country of his choice in Dublin on Saturday, he will not join the likes of Jon Webb, David Egerton, Richard West and Joe Worsley in materialising at a World Cup in an uncapped state. He will, however, be an unknown quantity – as much to Martin Johnson and the rest of the red-rose hierarchy as to the opposition.

"Martin gave me the call when I was back at Wasps doing some extra training," said the 23-year-old scrum-half when asked how news of his inclusion was broken to him. "There was a whole mix of emotions, but the main one was ecstasy. It really blew me away. I rang my parents immediately and they were even more excited, if that was possible."

England's fly-half Toby Flood, in his column for the Daily Telegraph, talks about the moment he received the call from Martin Johnson telling him he was in the squad.

"I had just walked into my house in Leicester after a training session at my club last Monday morning when Martin Johnson rang to say I was in the World Cup squad.

No matter how many caps you have, it is always a nervous wait. I must admit I didn’t expect the boss to call so early in the week.

If it took me by surprise, at least thankfully within three seconds of the conversation I knew I was going to New Zealand.

He just said: 'Congratulations, you are in the squad, see on Sunday night’. I imagine Johnno had to make a lot of calls that day and some really horrible ones to players who weren’t going, so I didn’t expect him to chat for long.

I called Dan Cole, my Leicester team-mate, afterwards, and he had heard good news as well. Johnno had left him a message on his phone."

The Sydney Morning Herald casts its eye over the players who will not be going to the World Cup in a special photo gallery.

The Irish Independent's Tony Ward reflects on the Ireland squad announcement and believes complacency is to blame for the notable omissions.

"In naming his squad for the World Cup, Declan Kidney has acted with the decisiveness sorely lacking from his team at the Aviva last Saturday. The sense had been of a travelling 30 all but set in stone.

Whatever else it may have done, Saturday's no-show against the French put the cat among the pigeons and Kidney, in axing no fewer than six of his Grand Slam-winning squad, has shown little room for sentiment.

He has picked on form and sod reputation, with Luke Fitzgerald, Tomas O'Leary, John Hayes, Marcus Horan, Mick O'Driscoll and Peter Stringer all consigned to a standby place at best.

It is a bold call but the right one. Only in the case of Fitzgerald could I argue with Kidney's selection -- I feel there is potential game-breaking talent being left at home.

Injury has inevitably played its part, with Felix Jones the most unlucky in that regard. It wasn't that he was setting the world on fire, but certainly there was enough evidence to suggest his place alongside Rob Kearney on the flight Down Under was secure."

The New Zealand Herald's Hayden Donnell talks to All Blacks legends Wayne Shelford and Colin Meads following the announcement of the 30-man squad for the tournament.

"Rugby greats have hit out at a decision to include veteran lock Ali Williams in All Blacks squad for the Rugby World Cup, but they are applauding a decision to include wing Zac Guildford at in the squad at the expense of Sitiveni Sivivatu and Hosea Gear.

Iconic former All Black captain and lock Colin Meads said he worried about the match fitness of experienced players such as Williams and prop Tony Woodcock, who are both coming back from long injury layoffs.

In-form young players such as Canterbury prop Wyatt Crockett were unlucky to miss out on selection, Mr Meads said."

Who will make the grade in Graham Henry's Rugby World Cup squad? © Getty Images

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Michael Brown previews the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup squad announcement.

"Some All Blacks aspiring to play in next month's World Cup have come up short and will be notably absent when the squad is revealed tomorrow.

"Hosea Gear, Liam Messam, Wyatt Crockett and Zac Guildford appear to be the biggest casualties in the 30-man All Blacks squad, with Sitiveni Sivivatu, Victor Vito and John Afoa tipped to make the final cut.

"The back three was always going to be one of the most contentious areas with a wealth of resources and two of Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Sivivatu, Gear and Guildford were due to be jettisoned.

"Dagg was excellent in his comeback from injury against South Africa on Sunday morning and will provide backup to Mils Muliaina, while Jane has proven to be a big-game player. Gear provided speed, explosiveness and surety under the high ball but the selectors are expected to go for the experienced Sivivatu, who was in good form earlier in the Tri Nations."

The Irish Times' reports from Ireland's World Cup warm-up defeat to France in Dublin.

"For all the talk of Irish rustiness – five of Saturday’s starting team were making their first appearance of the season – you couldn’t help but remind yourself that 13 of this French side were making their seasonal bow on Saturday, and 15 of them had done so a week before.

"Furthermore, this was, after all, Ireland’s notional first-choice pack bar one enforced change, notional first-choice halfbacks and first-choice midfield, and they were at home and led 8-0 after a bright first 10 minutes. Indeed, they book-ended the contest with a further 14 points in the final eight minutes and so, for what it’s worth, they could take comfort in again finishing the game strongly.

"But the problem was what happened in between. As Ireland lost their way with a surfeit of errors, the French, during one 22-minute spell, scored 26 unanswered points and were strutting around the Aviva Stadium as if they owned it – which they pretty much did."

Writing in the Wales on Sunday, Barry John reflects on Wales' World Cup preparations.

"I’m sure that Wales can tinker with the scrum and iron out the problems but I think the line-out was the worst it has been in any of the three warm-up games. We just don’t seem to get the mechanics right between throwers and jumpers.

"And it said something that Argentina, who were playing their first game for around nine months, produced an efficient line-out performance and showed how effective they can be with the catch and drive when they scored their try at the end.

"Warren Gatland will name his 30-man squad tomorrow but I’m sure he won’t have too many headaches over the makeup of his World Cup party. The real headache for the head coach will be honing a game plan that Wales will be able to put into action. Wales need a solid set-piece otherwise they will be coming home before the postcards."

The < Ahref="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/wales/8714395/Rugby-World-Cup-2011-Wales-well-prepared-for-New-Zealand-tournament.html" target="new">Daily Telegraph's Brian Moore believes that Wales have clearly prepared well for next month's Rugby World Cup.

"Much hard work and initiatives like their recent training camp in Spala, Poland, using ultra-cold cryogenic chambers that allowed more intensive training have enabled them to finish each of their pre-World Cup games strongly.

"From this base they launched and sustained disciplined and aggressive defensive efforts in both games against England and again in their 28-13 win over Argentina in Cardiff.

"They will be reasonably satisfied with their World Cup preparation because, Morgan Stoddard apart, their established players look in good shape and their inexperienced fringe players have been given game time and not found wanting.

"Positives were the performances of Rhys Preistland at fly-half, Tavis Knoyle at scrum-half, James Hook wherever he played and that minority possession in every game did not subdue their ability to fashion and finish tries-scoring chances."

The Guardian's Rob Kitson previews England's Rugby World Cup squad announcement.

"When Matt Giteau was left out of Australia's Rugby World Cup squad last week, the cry went up across the home unions: "We'll have him". Perhaps the acid test of England's 30-man squad, which will be unveiled formally at a gala evening at Twickenham on Monday, is to ask a similar question of those rejected. Few, one suspects, would provoke a similar flutter, save for Charlie Hodgson, whom Scotland would love to pick at fly-half.

"That is not to say England are short of quality. All World Cup contenders must have a world-class kernel of talent and Dan Cole, Matt Stevens, Courtney Lawes, Tom Croft, Ben Youngs, Jonny Wilkinson, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden will hope to have shown their true worth to the world by the end of October. Less certain are the combinations in midfield, at half-back and in the back row, among the most pivotal of areas. England have a decent-enough frame but the hinges are not quite as strong as Martin Johnson, the team manager, would like."

Will Riki Flutey be the high profile casualty from Martin Johnson's 30-man squad?© Getty Images

Ian Stafford of the Daily Mail believes Riki Flutey's number is up and the Wasps man will miss out on World Cup selection.

"Riki Flutey's dream of representing England at a World Cup has been shattered after Danny Care's sudden withdrawal from the squad last week forced the England management into a rethink.

Flutey's omission will be confirmed on Monday evening when manager Martin Johnson officially names the players he will be relying on to make an impact in New Zealand.

Wasps star Flutey, 31, who was born in New Zealand, was in line for selection as an alternative option at inside centre, as well as cover for stand-off and even scrum-half until Care's broken toe sustained during last Saturday's defeat by Wales in Cardiff altered the complexion of the official 30-strong squad, which now sees the introduction of Joe Simpson."

Eddie Butler, in his column for the Observer, provides his take on who will make the plane to New Zealand.

"The chances to shine are all but here. Even if the Rugby World Cup does not appear designed for surprise in September, the pool stages will still be a test of smart selection and team efficiency, so that the real business of knock-out rugby in October sees England grow stronger, not fade.

Inspiration lies ahead. But not right now. On Monday, the list of 30 players who have made it through the hell of summer training and the ordeal of an internal trial and two Tests against Wales will be made public. Sunday is a bad day for the clutch of players who must take the call: Sorry, you are not going to New Zealand. Everyone knew this deadline was approaching, but it is still a cruel moment.

And who might they be, those who are suffering for their sport? Who are those that might have trained without conviction, played without panache and yet are still on their way to New Zealand?"

Tom English, writing for the Scotsman, reflects on a less than convincing performance by Scotland.

"Al Kellock said it all at the end. What pleased him most? "The win," he replied. What kind of a performance was it? Not the best, he remarked. "I just want thank everybody for coming," said the Scotland captain. "I know it wasn't the most attractive game to watch."

Well said, captain. But you were probably understating it. The game was an attritional nightmare, one that happened to have an extremely encouraging beginning for Scotland but which sank into an arm wrestle that had everybody wincing and, at times, yawning. Bottom line, though. The win. Two from two. Two tries as well. And a fine display from Nick De Luca in attack. Beyond that? A gruntathon. It was ever thus with Italy.

There can't be any doubt that Andy Robinson knew precisely who his chosen men were before this Test match. You don't spend a few years around these guys without knowing everything there is to know about their strengths and weaknesses as players, their mental capacity to cope with the kind of examinations that will soon be upon them. We could speculate all we like about Simon Danielli or Nikki Walker (who was worryingly stretchered off in the second half) for the last remaining spot on the wing and the likely two from three - Johnnie Beattie, Richie Vernon and Al Strokosch - in the back-row, but Robinson knew it all coming here. This game was about working the combinations rather than making discoveries. As such, you have to wonder how much use it was."

Australia's renaissance man Dan Vickerman, talking to David Sygall of the Sydney Morning Herald, admits the excitement is brewing after being named in the Australian World Cup squad.

"Dan Vickerman relinquishing his hard-won place in the Wallabies team in 2008 was surprising. Completing an honours degree at one of the world's great universities was exceptional. Regaining his place for the World Cup in New Zealand next month is astonishing.

It's a rare breed that is prepared to risk a career in international rugby to spend three years buried in books. But what Vickerman might lack in overt exuberance, he makes up for in single-mindedness. His reward is a third World Cup, another time around with his second-row partner and good friend Nathan Sharpe in the Wallaby scrum and a chance to repay Australian rugby for welcoming back the Cape Town-born 32-year-old after he realised his academic goals.

''I don't show a lot of emotion at the best of times but, for me, this is something really very special,'' Vickerman says. ''On the inside I'm really bubbling."

Former All Blacks hooker Sean Fitzpatrick, writing for the New Zealand Herald , reflects on a week where the seemingly invincible All Blacks were finally defeated.

"First of all I just what to say thanks for all the advice this past week - and it's probably best if I stick to the rugby!

I was in Johannesburg during the week and experienced first-hand how passionate and desperate the fans in the Republic are to see their team get back to winning ways before the start of the Rugby World Cup.

By the time you read this you will probably know the result, but whatever happens this is a crucial game for both teams.

The Boks have gone down a different road from the All Blacks with their preparation.

Their first game at the RWC is against a Welsh team that is growing in confidence after their win against a below-par English team in Cardiff last week.

The selection of Bismarck du Plessis at No 2 in place of captain John Smit was the main talking-point in South Africa. For me it was the right rugby decision, given that du Plessis is one of the standout hookers in world rugby."

The Irish Independent's Brendan Fanning believes it is time for Ireland to drop Luke Fitzgerald.

"There won't be any need to worry about having your phone on or off this morning. No one will be dreading a text that gives them bad news, or not getting a text that gives them good news. Rather if you bumped into Declan Kidney in the corridor of Carton House yesterday and he suggested stepping out for a chat, then chances are he wasn't about to make your day.

"It will all be done face to face," says manager Paul McNaughton. "There won't be any texts."

It is ironic that just when Ireland put together the busiest programme of warm-up matches for the World Cup, of any of the European teams, they get through the games in reasonable shape but still end up looking at a van load of players who are behind schedule."

The Daily Telegraph's columnist Paul Ackford gives his view on who will go to the World Cup with England.

"Some 20 years ago, at the start of what was then the Five Nations, an England squad gathered for a meeting in a Richmond hotel room when in walked the Rugby Football Union’s technical director, who stuck a video in the machine, said, “Watch this, guys”, and walked out again.

The tape was called ‘Understanding the Game’ and essentially amounted to a compilation of clips from All Black teams of that era doing the basics under pressure extremely accurately and efficiently.

It was as relevant to that England group as it is to the squad that will travel to New Zealand for the seventh World Cup because it is that lack of intuition, empathy, understanding — call it what you will — that, with one or two exceptions, has bedevilled England teams down the years.

In a week during which Australia have left Matt Giteau out of their World Cup party, England have still to find players with half of Giteau’s creativity and imagination to lead their attack. Giteau has 92 caps and is only 28."

Liam Messam is just one of a number of players who will be hoping to catch the eye in Port Elizabeth on Saturday © Getty Images

Duncan Johnstone of the Dominion Post previews Saturday's meeting between South Africa and New Zealand in Port Elizabeth.

"All Blacks halfback Jimmy Cowan takes a look at the backline outside him, shakes his head in wonder, and declares anything could happen in tomorrow's Tri-Nations test with the Springboks.

"The same could be said of the game. It's one of those tests that is hard to get a handle on.

"An experienced Springboks side hoping it has shaken the rust out of its system and desperate for a victory against a makeshift All Blacks team full of returning players believing they can claim a famous win that might elevate them into World Cup status.

"Yes, there's a lot of shadow boxing going on with rugby's global showpiece just around the corner. But this game has a real edge to it."

In an interview with David Walsh in The Australian, Lawrence Dallaglio explains how England's disappointing showing at the 1999 World Cup helped those involved mature as a players and ultimately laid the foundation for their triumph in Australia four years later.

"It wasn't the best time in Lawrence Dallaglio's life, 1999. At the beginning of that year, it promised everything.

"He was captain of England, his wife Alice was due to have their second child, later in the year the World Cup would be played in Europe and although it wasn't something one publicly talked about, rugby's corporate backers were taking out their wallets and spending. Dallaglio, you would have said at the time, had it made.

"Perhaps that was the point at which it began to unravel, the feeling of invulnerability."

Spiro Zavos of the Sydney Morning Herald commends Australia head coach Robbie Deans on his decision to take the captain's armband away from Rocky Elsom and hand it to James Horwill.

"The Wallabies' lacklustre run into the World Cup tournament has been electrified with the appointment of James Horwill as the captain. There had been a disconnect between the brilliant play of the Reds in winning this year's Super Rugby tournament and the Wallabies' World Cup campaign.

"Now this disconnect has been fixed. The new captain will bring the Reds' enthusiasm and flair to the national side. As Will Genia points out, Horwill's leadership is of the inspirational kind. He leaves the back play decisions to Genia and Quade Cooper, the two playmakers who guided the Reds and now the Wallabies.

"Put into this context, the elevation of Horwill could well be a master stroke. This season's results, a loss to Samoa, two victories over South Africa and a comprehensive loss to New Zealand, were not good enough going into the World Cup tournament. The Wallabies were outmuscled in the contact areas, especially in the middle of the field. And the fizz and esprit that marked the Reds' game seemed to be missing from the Wallabies."

Argentina fly-half Felipe Contempomi talks to The Telegraph ahead of his side's clash with Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

"Felipe Contepomi is a qualified, practising doctor so he ought not to put too much faith in the power of miracles over sober realities.

"But the much-travelled Argentina captain and fly-half is all too aware that leaps of faith have helped propel the Pumas to the highest echelons of the game and that they will require such reserves of belief if they are not only to trouble Wales at the Millennium Stadium today but, more importantly, England in the first Pool B game of the Rugby World Cup in three weeks time."

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans chats to Matt Giteau during a training sessioni Christchurch last year © Getty Images

The Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden believes Matt Giteau's omission from the Wallabes' World Cup squad was predictable.

"Ultimately, it came down to the Wallabies management - and not just coach Robbie Deans - having concerns that apart from opposing teams having ''worked Giteau out'', the Test midfielder had fallen short of the mark on several occasions when on-field pressure was applied.

"The first real clue Deans and Giteau were not bosom buddies came in 2009, when the coach overlooked him for the vice-captaincy. Although the pair insisted they got on well, the reality was different.

"Deans had his problems relating to Giteau, while the player believed that, considering his seniority in the Wallabies squad, that he deserved more responsibility within the group. That he was not considered for major leadership roles hurt him."

The Scotsman's David Ferguson talks to Scotland's Chris Cusiter as he prepared to make his return to the Test match stage against Italy at Murrayfield.

"The challenge of making it into Scotland's World Cup squad may be uppermost in the minds of the home players who take to the field tomorrow for the final EMC warm-up Test match but, for Chris Cusiter, merely returning to the field will be a massive step forward.

The 29-year-old scrum-half last played for Scotland in March 2010, when he captained the team to a famous win over Ireland at Croke Park in Dublin - a triumph that ruined the Irish bid for a Triple Crown. Almost from that moment on he has fought a debilitating knee injury that, five months later, was finally diagnosed as not the condition initially suspected but a fractured kneecap, requiring an operation that was to take him out of the game until April of this year."

The Irish Times' Gerry Thornley reports from Ireland's latest Rugby World Cup warm-up clash with Connacht.

"A bit like the rest of the team, Tony Buckley, at loosehead, and John Hayes were in something of a no-win situation; or at any rate could probably gain little from the night. As it was, the night, and especially the scrums, did not exactly enhance their claims.

There were eight in the first half, five for Connacht and three for Ireland. None reflected well on the Irish scrum, but the ones on their own put-in were a source of embarrassment.

Dylan Rogers, a 27-year-old South African signed from Buccaneers last year, and Rodney Ah You, the 22-year-old Kiwi from Christchurch and a “special project” who ought to qualify for Ireland in under two years, each had Hayes and Buckley in trouble. Ah You, who represented the New Zealand Under-19s against Ireland Under-19s three years ago, also impressed around the pitch."

The New Zealand Herald's Wynne Gray reacts to the Wallabies' squad announcement and their decision to change their skipper.

"Deans had stuck with Rocky Elsom even as he battled to get back from injury and when he did, he scarcely deserved his Wallaby place.

However, Deans retained his skipper and then after the Wallabies held on for a rare win against the Boks in South Africa, he dumped his captain on the day of the World Cup squad announcement. That logic seems unusual.

Clearly Elsom did not warrant his place in the Wallabies starting XV this season, but Deans included him and left him as leader. Why he would then leave him to soldier on with that work and those duties, only to open the trapdoor yesterday, is baffling."

Wales centre Jamie Roberts is the latest subject of The Guardian's Small Talk Q&A.

"Which is more fun, playing international rugby or being a student? Both have their merits, especially when it comes to attracting women, which is the most important thing!

You mean you're the perfect combination of brain and brawn? [laughs]. Something like that!

So you've got a girlfriend then? No, no. I'm single at the moment.

But how can that be if you're the perfect man? Well I haven't met the perfect woman!

Back to university life, you must have some cracking tales of student nights out? I've got many good tales but none I can share with you! It wouldn't be responsible of me.

That's a shame ... Let's just say Freshers' Week was awesome.

Rocky Elsom has been stripped of the Wallabies' captaincy in favour of James Horwill © Getty Images

Rocky Elsom had to go as skipper once his position in the Wallabies' team came under threat according to the Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden.

"Despite the stunned looks at today's Wallabies announcement when James Horwill was presented as the new Australian captain, for those close to the team the change was not a major surprise.

Making Horwill captain is a good move. He is a natural leader, as shown by him skippering the Reds to the Super Rugby title in May, while it also frees up the Australian selectors should they feel the need to replace Elsom from the Wallabies backrow.

Elsom's blindside flanker position has been under threat and it would have been a major embarrassment if the selectors were forced to drop their skipper during the World Cup, which starts in New Zealand on September 9."

Sam Warburton has declared he is ready to be Wales’ World Cup captain. The Western Mail's Gareth Griffiths reports.

"Warburton will sit out Saturday’s final warm-up match against Argentina on Saturday with Ryan Jones leading Wales for a record-equalling 28th time. But Warburton is the man Warren Gatland is expected to install as skipper when he names his 30-man World Cup party on Monday.

And he admits: “It is something I would not be able to turn down. To be honest, I feel it would be a massive surprise if I was named captain.

“I wondered if would be happen at all during my Test career, let alone now when I am only 22. I am not sure what is going to happen because Ryan is captain this weekend.

“He is an outstanding leader and has much more experience than me. So I am not sure what is going through the coaches’ minds and they have given me no indication yet. But, if it happened it would be a massive honour, and the biggest achievement of my rugby career so far.”

The Scotsman's David Ferguson reports from Scotland's Rugby World Cup prepaprations.

"Youthful enthusiasm is a great attribute for any team, but there is nothing as reassuring as Test experience when a squad enters the pressurised World Cup environment. There is no doubting the serious level of intensity players will face when they touch down in New Zealand for a World Cup that could suggest "rugby is coming home" with greater resonance than England could. The sense of anticipation off the field is terrific already, and the fever-pitch of what unfolds on it is likely to be at a nerve-shattering level come kick-off on 9 September.

That, therefore, goes some way to explaining why the Scotland coaches, in particular, are hugely relieved to see the names Euan Murray, Chris Cusiter and Mike Blair in this weekend's final EMC warm-up squad. It underlines why they were also prepared to take a chance with these players and leave their recovery from fitness to the last moment.

The trio bring a combined 90 years and 161 Test matches' worth of experience to what is in some areas a relatively callow squad. Chris Paterson may be making his fourth appearance in a tournament, but the vast majority are preparing for only their second."

Brian O'Driscoll has called on Ireland to show the type of intensity they hope to bring to the World Cup when they run out to face France at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. The Irish Independent's Hugh Farrelly reports.

"O'Driscoll leads a side that shows 10 changes from the one that lost 19-12 to the French in Bordeaux and, after missing the first two warm-up internationals through injury, is delighted to be back and keen to lay down a marker for New Zealand.

"It's great to be back," he said. "It's always difficult sitting out Test matches. I never like missing out and this will be a special occasion.

"There is certainly an onus on trying to win, definitely, but it's also about game time and getting up to speed. We have to have the right mentality, so the intensity and physicality has to be there. We need to treat this as anything but a friendly, try to stamp our authority and play the brand of rugby we hope to play at the World Cup."

Ireland have a solitary win from their last 11 matches against the French and O'Driscoll accepted they have found France tough opponents."

The Irish Times' Gerry Thornley previews the clash between an Ireland XV and Connacht this evening.

"Those members of the Irish squad who are being sent to Donnybrook this evening may privately feel they’ve drawn the short straw and one wonders how much they can achieve individually or even collectively. Anything less than a convincing win would be a disappointment, yet the more convincing it is then the more it may look devalued.

Admittedly, at least six or seven of the 22 players on duty here should be on the plane to New Zealand, and it’s possible that one or two spots could conceivably be swayed tonight. For example, Isaac Boss would appear to have every opportunity to cement the third scrumhalf slot ahead of Conor Murray, while if there are to be only four props the last one would appear to rest between Tony Buckley, starting at loose-head, and John Hayes."

Telecom has ditched a controversial campaign asking All Black supporters to abstain from sex during the Rugby World Cup. The New Zealand Herald reports.

"The "Abstain for the Game" campaign was roundly criticised after details were revealed by the New Zealand Herald yesterday.

In leaked email circulated this morning to stakeholders, Telecom's head of retail Alan Gourdie said the campaign would be dropped after a "torrid 24 hours in the glare of public spotlight".

"...it's pretty obvious to all that we misjudged public opinion. So you may or may not be surprised to hear that following the strong reaction yesterday, we won't be proceeding with the 'Abstain' campaign," the email read.

In a statement issued by Telecom, Mr Gourdie continues: "No excuses. We caused offence to some people, and for that we apologise.

"Full credit to the opposition. We listened to your views, and we have acted quickly to change our game plan."

The New Zealand Herald reports that Rugby World Cup fans can be forgiven for seeing double next month.

"Rugby World Cup 2011 boss Martin Snedden has confirmed the trophy thousands of New Zealanders had their photos taken with is the real Webb Ellis Cup, however fans can't be blamed for seeing double.

Mr Snedden confirmed today that two trophies exist and the one which toured New Zealand will be the same trophy handed to the winning team on October 23. "The trophy that New Zealanders saw and had their photos taken with is the Webb Ellis Cup that will be presented to the winning team at the Final of RWC 2011 on October 23 at Eden Park," said Mr Snedden said.

"We are pleased to be able to reassure all those fans who turned up early in the morning around the country that the experience they had was genuine."

The Independent's Chris Hewett reflects on the news that England scrum-half Danny Care will miss the Rugby World Cup through injury.

"Four years ago, England travelled to the World Cup in the throes of a scrum-half crisis. Matt Dawson and Kyran Bracken were strictly past tense, while their natural successor, Harry Ellis, was in the early stages of his long and ultimately futile battle with orthopaedic trauma – a situation that left Brian Ashton, the coach, with the unenviable task of choosing between an occasional Test player in Andy Gomarsall, a seven-a-side specialist in Peter Richards and a recent recruit from the amateur game in Shaun Perry. Gomarsall ended up the main man and played an important role in the team's unexpected advance to the final, but it was a rum do from start to finish.

What price the same situation arising next month, when England pitch up in All Black country for the seventh of these global gatherings? When news broke yesterday of Care's withdrawal from the squad – during the defeat at the Millennium Stadium, in which he participated as a replacement, he mangled the big toe joint on his left foot and is in need of immediate surgery – thoughts turned immediately to alternatives. And as things stand, the alternatives are short of great."

Will Johnson alter the partnership of Hape and Tindall ahead of the World Cup? © Getty Images

Chris Hewett, writing for the Independent, casts his eye across the options for Martin Johnson in England's centres and believes it is time for a change in policy.

"Will Greenwood, the thinking man's thinking midfielder, used a newspaper column at the back end of last week to ask whether England, as selected and prepared by Martin Johnson and his coaching staff, are sufficiently clever to win the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand. It was not a question that occurred to anyone before the victorious tournament in 2003, not least because the brainpower in that team was provided by Greenwood himself. Eight years on, it is the only debating point in town.

The poverty of the midfield play against Wales in Cardiff four days ago – the narrow-mindedness of it, the predictability of it, the downright stupidity of it – gave Greenwood his answer, as if he didn't know it already. The fact that the inside centre of England's dreams has since been quoted as saying that he feels "very, very bullish" about the side's prospects in All Black country – say it ain't so, Will – merely adds to the confusion currently sloshing around red-rose circles."

Chris Rattue, writing for the New Zealand Herald, calls for a change in policy from the IRB.

"The Rugby World Cup, however it may turn out, could have been so much better in a competitive sense.

Let's face it - for all the IRB's millions, and rugby's extravagant dreams of world domination, the same old famous five will contest the Webb Ellis Cup again and even then only the All Blacks are in decent shape.

Rugby should forget the global dream and sort out the backyard ... especially the Pacific Islands.

When you consider how England is blatantly using its power to bolster the national side with players not remotely English, it is time for rugby to start levelling the playing field.

When it comes to international borders, I'll admit to changing my mind on letting players switch teams, having seen how the rich are getting richer while the poor are shafted."

David Long, writing for the Dominion Post, reflects on more bizarre happenings in New Zealand ahead of the World Cup.

"There will be Champagne corks popping at the offices of adidas this morning.

They'll be relieved that they're no longer the All Blacks sponsor everyone loves to hate and they can now happily - and quietly - get on with their business of charging extortionate money for All Blacks jerseys and forcing their coloured boots on our players.

Telecom's "Abstain for the All Blacks" campaign has rightly been slammed by all and sundry. It's a terrible idea and will have Kiwis mocked around the world if it goes ahead.

Not surprisingly Graham Henry and the All Blacks players saw sense and refused to have any part in the advertising campaign.

It's unfortunate that the players have become the gate keepers to some of the ridiculous ideas exploiting our most famous brand.

They are the ones who've refused to allow the haka to become a marketing gimmick and thankfully, they see the black jersey for what it is, a symbol of New Zealand, that belongs to all of New Zealand."

Former All Blacks fly-half Nick Evans, talking to Peter Bills of the New Zealand Herald, believes the weather may well determine where the William Webb Ellis Cup is going come October.

"The weather was glorious, the setting sublime. A hot sun baked down on the near 4,000 crowd at the local 'Stade' and the rugby festival was in full swing.

Here at Lacaune in the south of France, 40 kilometres into the hills of the beautiful Tarn region beyond Castres in the heart of French rugby land, an unlikely New Zealand brains trust sat on the grass analysing and discussing the All Blacks and the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

A strange place then, for those old New Zealand opponents, Nick Evans and Chris Masoe to meet up again and chat about times past, present and future. "

McAlister will now leave New Zealand and join his new side Toulouse immediately © Getty Images

David Long, writing for the Dominion Post, gives his view on Luke McAlister's time in New Zealand following the news the centre has secured his early release from the NZRU.

"And so the curtain comes down on one of the most disappointing and unfulfilled rugby careers in New Zealand.

There will be few tears shed when Luke McAlister heads through the departure gates at Auckland Airport.

There won't be a campaign for a statue to be built outside North Harbour Stadium, or a stand named in his honour.

And I'm sure most people's initial thoughts on hearing he has been released early from his contract to join Toulouse straight away would have been 'good riddance'.

From the moment McAlister arrived back in New Zealand from his two-year stint at Sale Sharks, his career has been an unmitigated flop.

The NZRU broke, not bent, their eligibility rules to allow him to be rushed straight into the All Blacks, despite not playing in a domestic competition that year."

England fullback Ben Foden, talking to Donald McRae of the Guardian, backs his side to ruffle a few feathers come the World Cup.

"When England are downcast, and the expression on Martin Johnson's face looks almost as black as their contentious second strip for the rugby World Cup, at least they can rely on Ben Foden to keep talking and dreaming optimistically. Alongside Chris Ashton, his Northampton sidekick and World Cup room-mate, Foden will sustain the wise-cracking which might yet haul England out of the despondency following their miserable defeat in a friendly against Wales last Saturday.

"As a guy playing rugby you always pick up a ball when you're fooling around and you start commentating," Foden says as he explains his upbeat mood prior to England's departure for New Zealand this month. The full-back grins as he slips into a commentator's voice. "It's the World Cup final," he says with whispery drama, "and it's Foden, with the ball, in the very last minute. And he's going for the drop goal to win it for England …"

Foden shrugs in amusement, reverting to his normal voice as he recounts the predictable outcome. "And then you fluff it and the ball drifts to the right. I was always doing that as a kid and so to be actually thinking about going to the World Cup in a strong and settled England side is very exciting."

Former England centre Will Carling, writing for the Daily Mail, analyses the options in the centres for boss Martin Johnson ahead of the World Cup.

"England’s centres have been the divisive talking point of the World Cup warm-ups and the biggest headache for manager Martin Johnson. Shontayne Hape and Mike Tindall took the brunt of the blame for England’s impotent attack against Wales after another toiling midfield display. Here, former captain and centre Will Carling gives his verdict on a problem position.

The England performance in Cardiff was bland, one-paced and predictable. The midfield especially made poor decisions and seemed to lack any cohesion. It was one of those games when you look back and cringe.

The forwards won enough ball to win that game by 20 or 30 points and the match exposed that we need to re-think our approach. It is not just about bulk and size — we need changes of angle and pace."

Wallabies legend Tim Horan, writing for the New Zealand Herald, reflects on the victorious 1999 World Cup side.

"Trust. That was the vital ingredient which made the Wallaby side tick so well in the 1999 World Cup.

We had total confidence and belief in each other, from the quality of the management and analysis to knowing that the guy next to us on the field would always make that vital tackle or deliver that important pass and that we could rely upon the guys on our bench.

In some ways, we may have been ahead of our time. In particular, our coach, Rod Macqueen, actively coached us only half the time, leaving the rest to his assistants. This is more in line with how things are done these days rather than what was standard practice then."

The Dominion Post's Greg Growden casts his eye across the Australian scrum and believes it has been the stand out facet of their game.

"In a topsy-turvy Wallabies season, one element of their game has remained firm: their scrum.

Even in the Wallabies' two losses this year - against Samoa in Sydney and the All Blacks in Auckland - the forward pack was not the reason for Test disappointment. Unlike other years where the Australian scrum has struggled under overwhelming pressure and been lampooned by the international media, especially in the northern hemisphere, the Wallabies management is, this year, relieved their set piece is solid again.

It can even win Tests, as was the case against the Springboks at Kings Park on Saturday, when the Wallabies' pack gradually took control and, in the final quarter, knocked the South Africans off the mark several times. A crucial moment occurred in the 73rd minute when the Wallabies, against the head, succeeded in wheeling the Springboks scrum. From their own feed, they put enough pressure on for the home team to be penalised for collapsing the scrum."

England must re-group ahead of their final Rugby World Cup warm-up clash with Ireland in Dublin © Getty Images

Former England hooker Brian Moore sticks the knife into his old side in his latest column for the Daily Telegraph

"Nobody expected or demanded faultless fluency from England in these warm-up matches. Steady improvement would have sufficed, but even that was missing and after the game the England coach, Martin Johnson, struggled to explain why. It would be wrong and pointless to simply dismiss England completely because, as Johnson oft says – we are where we are; that we are not where we want to, or should, be is a different matter and it is pointless investigating the reasons and responsibility for this until after the tournament. The point to decide is what to do now and in the next two months.

"England are not going to be able to play a varied, all-encompassing attacking game for a number of reasons, principal among which is they do not regularly create the right kind of possession at crucial times.

"Their forwards will hold their own whatever the opposition, but it is not just a question of winning ball; it is being able to produce it quickly when necessary and repeatedly if necessary."

The New Zealand Herald's Wynne Gray sees nothing to fear from the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup following their latest reverse at the hands of Australia.

"From Peter de Villiers down, the World Cup champions seem agitated, uncertain and indecisive. Their common purpose is fragmented, their reliance on old-stagers more displaced as they muddle about with new talent like Patrick Lambie.

The most experienced Springbok side in history played with a lack of wit and clarity which should irritate even the most ardent one-eyed Bok apologists.

Sloppy substitutions towards the end, which allowed the Wallabies to monster the Bok scrum, were the nadir, an indictment of the tactical nous of de Villiers and co and a move which cost them the match. None of my acquaintances would be mournful about the Boks' inadequacy but all would be curious about their decline."

The Irish Times' Gerry Thornley reports from Ireland's defeat to France in their Rugby World Cup warm-up clash in Bordeaux.

"To a degree, Ireland’s second-half comeback and the narrow failure to extract something from the game should give them the confidence and the extra desire to avenge the loss next Saturday, all the more so with the likes of Paul O’Connell and Jamie Heaslip likely to start [next weekend's re-match in Dublin] along with Marc Lièvremont’s stated intention to give the rest of his squad game time.

“But it’s France again at home,” countered Kidney. “So there’s easier matches to play, it’s not exactly a confidence-builder you’re going into play, you know? The French lads will change, you don’t know how many. But whether France change nobody, eight or 15, it doesn’t really matter. France can turn out three, four teams like that.”

Yet, allowing for this result, inaccuracy in possession in the first-half, the way Rory Best’s darts were dismantled by an exceptional French line-out and the four penalties at scrum time, the positives outweighed the negatives."

The Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden reflects on Australia's Tri-Nations victory over South Africa in Durban.

"The Wallabies have always been good defenders. But they really pushed it up a level at Kings Park, tackling with tenacity and stopping an always direct opposition who were as intent as the Wallabies on ignoring every safety warning. It was head down, bum up, and stuff the circumstances if you knock yourself out. As Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom said: ''The Springboks came absolutely charging at us … so it was all or nothing.''

Advertisement: Story continues below At the ground, you could hear the collisions as the bodies of the Wallabies and Springboks hurtled at each other, and you shuddered. This was Test football at its most physical and most engrossing. And often in the past, the Wallabies have been distracted, even overwhelmed by such intensity.

Not this time. There were countless great tackles, with replacement centre Anthony Faingaa's charge to smash Springbok winger JP Pietersen in the 65th minute the turning point of the match, as it resulted in the penalty that put the Wallabies in front."

The Guardian's Rob Kitson picks through the pieces of England defeat to Wales in their Rugby World Cup warm-up clash in Cardiff.

"Some dress rehearsals offer welcome reassurance, others make you want to run screaming from the building. For Wales, Saturday's warm-up game was a blessed relief, showcasing the fitness and warrior spirit they will need in New Zealand next month. For England it was a horror show, pure and simple. This was the bad old England, zombies in white sleep-walking towards World Cup oblivion. It was that depressing.

"No wonder Martin Johnson looked as angry as he has after any game in his tenure, warning his squad to expect a distinctly grumpy debrief when they reconvene next Sunday. Johnson will also be taking this week off to enjoy a brief family break, though Mrs Johnson may struggle to relax with such a dark thundercloud hanging over the breakfast table. Was this a good time for a family holiday? "Not with me," replied Johnson, grimly."

In his latest piece for the New Zealand Herald, Adrian Hyland visits New Plymouth Boys' High School to investigate its role in the history of schoolboy rugby.

"Remove New Plymouth Boys' High School from the story of New Zealand schools rugby and the whole narrative would unravel. They, along with schools like Auckland Grammar, Te Aute and Palmerston North Boys' were the progenitors of the Moascar Cup tradition, and New Plymouth Boys' held the Cup - schools rugby's equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield - between 1923 and 1927.

This unbeaten run wasn't to be the last: 1st XV coach JJ Stewart, later to become a revered figure in All Black rugby, took his boys to 55 games without defeat in the late 1950s. During his tenure, which lasted from 1950 until 1964, the dormitories of this most traditional boys' boarding school were so well stocked with Taranaki farmboys that there were at one point 32 rugby teams running out every week."

Dan Carter hugs it out after victory over Australia © Getty Images

Former All Black fly-half Grant Fox dismisses Australian confidence as New Zealand continue their march to the Rugby World Cup in The Sunday Star Times.

"The All Blacks typically need very little psychological goading when they play the Wallabies anyhow. So for so many Australians to get so carried away off the back of the win in Hong Kong last October and the Reds' successful Super 15 campaign was folly.

"Their former players are often their worst offenders. With the exception of Nick Farr-Jones, who consistently sounded a sober note of warning about Australia's inexperienced forward pack, the ex-Wallabies lined up to pontificate about the virtues of the youthful Australians versus the supposed failings of the ageing All Blacks. It was grist to the mill for Graham Henry."

Brendan Fanning highlights the importance of tight-head Mike Ross to Ireland's Rugby World Cup bid in The Sunday Independent.

"In case you weren't tuned into Mike Ross's importance to Ireland, you should be now. Having been ignored for longer than was reasonable, he has become the difference between having a scrum and Ireland not having a scrum. Yes, it's possible to win the odd game without one -- Wales managed it earlier in the day in Cardiff -- but it's not a policy you want to adopt.

"So the chance of a draw in Bordeaux last night, and with it a boost to morale having come back from as bad a 40 minutes as we have seen from Ireland, went south on a five- metre scrum that went back. Ross was on the bench; Tony Buckley was in the cockpit, and the plane crashed. It remains to be seen what effect this has on Buckley's chances of going to New Zealand. You need two tight heads on board, and aside from Ross we have one who is too old -- John Hayes -- and another who is not a good enough scrummager -- Buckley. There is no way out of this for Declan Kidney."

Legendary Wales fly-half Barry John gives his views on events at the Millennium Stadium in Wales on Sunday.

"England had absolutely no ideas and all the energy and spark they tried to show early on was totally eliminated. I thought it was quite an insult to the Welsh team that England chose not to take the easy penalties in the first half.

"They had Toby Flood putting them into strong positions in the corners and looking to use their advantage in the scrum and the line-out but they could not break down the amazing Welsh defence. And after absorbing all the pressure they made England pay."

Hugh Godwin runs the rule over Wales' win over England - where both sides were left coveting the other's strengths - in The Independent on Sunday.

"Friendly and phoney, or tellingly revelatory? Some old failings undermined England in the second of their three World Cup warm-ups and the most obvious straw to be clutched by those hoping they will achieve something in New Zealand next month is that to suffer in Cardiff is neither here nor, more importantly, there.

"Oddly, each side possessed what the other lacked. England, who will not play before naming their squad of 30 on 22 August, were solid in scrum and line-out, and they will proclaim that winning a World Cup is a tough task without those pillars. But Wales ruled the breakdown and they had an effective flanker in their captain, Sam Warburton, and the simple ability to finish a try when the chance presented itself to James Hook with 23 minutes left."

Richard Williams laments England's lack of cutting edge following their defeat to Wales in Cardiff in The Observer.

"With the roof closed to preview the conditions they will encounter against Argentina in Dunedin, playing around 75% of the match in their opponents' half for the best part of an hour, with the volume of God Save the Queen outdoing that of Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, and a chorus of Swing Low Sweet Chariot sweeping around the stadium from visiting fans who seemed to constitute a majority of the 73,307 in attendance, this felt unexpectedly like a home match for England.

"So much possession was granted to England by the superiority of their pack in the first half that Cardiff might as well have been Fortress Twickenham. For long – indeed, almost interminable – periods of the match, the men in white camped out on the Welsh line, trying desperately to take advantage of the decision not to take shots at goal from the avalanche of penalties awarded to them by the erratic referee, Alain Rolland."

Toby Flood is in pole position to start the World Cup as England's first-choice fly-half © Getty Images

In his column for the Daily Telegraph, England fly-half Toby Flood insists he is undaunted by the popularity and previous record of No.10 rival Jonny Wilkinson. Instead he searches for the approval of his peers.

"Ever since I made my debut for Newcastle Falcons at the age of 19 alongside Jonny Wilkinson, people have talked about me following in his footsteps.

"But I can honestly say it’s never been about write ups or opinions but always about whether you can look someone in the eye and know that you have done all you can on the pitch. No player ever strives to be popular, what they look for is to be respected by their peers in the way they play and act on and off the field.

"Jonny has so much history behind him and is such a fantastic player, he is always going to be putting his hand up. Yet that drives me on too; serving as a tap on my shoulder that this guy is always going to be pushing me."

Chirs Hewett ponders whether Wales head coach Warren Gatland will include the enigmatic Gavin Henson in his World Cup squad, in the Independent.

"Should Warren Gatland, the long-time All Black hooker who has been coaching Wales since shortly after the last World Cup in 2007, take a punt on the celebrity centre Gavin Henson, who has yet to reveal to everyone's satisfaction a rediscovered enthusiasm for top-level rugby to rival his passion for reality television? We will be given a clue today when Henson lines up alongside Jamie Roberts in the home midfield."

Writing in the Daily Mail, Chris Foy says England's evolution, through accident and design, over the past 17 months has accelerated Martin Johnson's men into true World Cup contenders.

"Partly by accident and partly by design, a team have gradually come together with the potential to make a strong impact at the World Cup - a scenario that would have been unthinkable early last March as England floundered for form and even basic cohesion. So this game serves as the final audition for a group of players on an accelerated journey.

"Ideally, Johnson would have another year to sift through a few remaining permutations, then tune and drill his preferred XV into an organised, efficient, dynamic unit, but that time is not available, so instead he must hope all the parts can knit together and hit their stride in time to take on Argentina in Dunedin on August 10."

The return to full fitness of talismanic leader Paul O'Connell is crucial for Ireland's prospects, according to Gerry Thornley in the Irish Times.

"The best of Paul O’Connell comes with game time, so the more we see of him over the next few months, the better. If there was one Irish player who didn’t want last season to end, it was O’Connell.

"The groin problems which plagued him after the 2010 Six Nations, which were compounded by that red card against the Ospreys and his ensuing suspension, have been well documented. The net effect was that he came into last season’s Six Nations virtually cold, and it was no surprise that his best came last up, in the win over England.

"After just 12 starts and the appearances off the bench last season, his mileage count is at least low, and though he’d like to start cranking it up soon, at least this season he also has a pre-season under his belt."

Nicolas Jones reacts with derision in the New Zealand Herald nto calls from some Australian commentators for the haka to be banned.

"It has become the echo which follows each crashing Wallabies defeat - the haka should be banned because it gives the All Blacks an advantage over rivals.

"The latest mouthpiece for the claim is Australian Fox Sports commentator Greg Martin, who claimed the haka gave the All Blacks an "unfair physical advantage".

Rocky Elsom and John Smit will lead out Australia and South Africa in Durban on Saturday, both under increasing pressure in their stewardships of the national teams, according to Jamie Pandaram in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Two captains with nowhere to hide. Uncomfortable murmuring in Australia and South Africa has now become a roar not even the gavels of the ARU or SARU can bring to order.

"Rocky Elsom has failed to win over critics after two losses from three Tests this year. With what appears to be, from the outside, an aloof attitude, questions linger about his leadership qualities and his form.

"Advertisement: Story continues below John Smit has fewer doubters in the leadership stakes, but is feeling similar heat over his place in the team. Smit and Danie Rossouw are the only survivors from the side hammered by the All Blacks a fortnight ago."

Danny Cipriani will be out to impress at the Rec on Friday night © Getty Images

Chris Hewett, of the Independent, talks to the forgotten fly-half of English rugby Danny Cipriani and finds the former Wasps man in bullish mood

"George Best, a flawed genius if ever there was one, never played at a World Cup, while Ryan Giggs, football's shop-soiled secular saint, is certain to retire from the game similarly unfulfilled. By these measures, Danny Cipriani's absence from rugby's imminent global shindig in New Zealand is merely a crying shame rather than a rank injustice that diminishes an entire sport. At 23, he has at least two more shots in his locker – in England in 2015, and in Japan four years later – and will surely hit the mark with one of them.

Yet those who rightly believe Cipriani to be a special talent – a once-in-a-blue moon kind of talent – are mourning his no-show in All Black country next month. Like Best before him and Giggs just recently, the Londoner has had his behavioural issues and seen them splashed across the public prints in full and glorious Technicolor. Unlike Best and Giggs, who failed to grace the biggest stage because they happened to represent countries unable to field teams good enough to qualify, Cipriani is missing the forthcoming jamboree through choice. His choice? Or the choice of Martin Johnson and his colleagues in the England coaching team? Now, there's a question."

Wallabies legend Matt Burke, in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald, calls for the Australians to silence the South African home crowd on Saturday.

"Those five Ps are the basis of getting things right off the field so that it all goes to plan on the field. Yet, sometimes, all the work before the kick-off can't prepare you for the onslaught when you run out in cauldron-type atmospheres.

Tomorrow is no different. Kings Park in Durban is one of the greatest theatres in which to play and getting a win there means silence, not rapturous applause, for opposition teams.

This week, as I look at the teams the Wallabies are preparing to take on - South Africa and New Zealand (and then the world next month), I ask whether we are putting too much pressure on these young men. Yes, they have incredible skill and drive, but do they lack game strategy and do they know how to win tight games? My father recently asked me how old I was when we won the Rugby World Cup in 1999. I was 26. I was experienced but, more important, I was surrounded by legendary names so, if we were to get into a hole, we could work our way out of it."

Wallabies No.8 Scott Higginbotham, talking to Greg Growden of the Dominion Post, admits he will tread carefully before Saturday's Tri-Nations Test with South Africa.

"If the new Wallabies No 8 Scott Higginbotham is a bit dubious about getting heavily involved in the on-field warm-ups before the test against the Springboks at Kings Park on Sunday morning (NZT) he has good reason.

It's because he doesn't want to suffer any more game-day turmoil on South African soil.

After some excellent performances off the bench, Higginbotham has been promoted to the starting XV for the first time at the expense of No 8 Ben McCalman, while second-rower Nathan Sharpe replaces Rob Simmons, who has been rested due to shoulder concerns.

When Higginbotham was last in South Africa with the Wallabies a year ago, he was scheduled to make his test debut at Loftus Versfeld."

Jim Tucker, writing for the Courier Mail, looks forward to the clash between the hard-hitting Butch James and the mercurial Quade Cooper ahead of Saturday's Tri-Nations clash.

"Reckless tackle merchant Butch James has been reactivated by the Springboks to further rattle Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper, who will have to keep his wits and his head intact to mastermind a Tri-Nations rally in Durban.

The abrasive James is fresh back from a four-week suspension for a high tackle so the "reformed" tag is about as meaningful as the one that has been discarded again and again for NRL bad boy Todd Carney.

The Springboks are acutely aware that caging Cooper is the surest route to winning this Test on Sunday morning (Qld time) and rival five-eighth James will make his presence felt like a heat-seeking missile.

It won't merely be giving Cooper a few welcoming jolts but securing that No.10 channel from invaders like Digby Ioane and James O'Connor sniffing for passes."

Greg Growden, in his weekly column for the Sydney Morning Herald, picks over Australia's recent game against New Zealand and looks ahead to Saturday's Test with South Africa.

"No wonder Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has been looking a bit weary. His sleep patterns were affected by the lengthy trip from Auckland to Durban, followed by nightmares when he had to endure a replay of the Wallabies' loss to the All Blacks in Auckland. Deans also had to get his head around who will be available for World Cup selection, as several key players are still recuperating in Australia."

There will be no Jonah Lomu-esque surprise selections in this year's 30-man World Cup squad © Getty Images

Wynne Gray, of the New Zealand Herald, speculates that there will be no surprise packages in the New Zealand World Cup squad.

"The All Black squad for the World Cup is just weeks from being announced.

The selectors settled on the core of the group last year and this season have been whittling away at others needed to round the squad out to the 30.

There is no chance a Jason Hewett, Jonah Lomu, Rhys Duggan or Ben Atiga will slip in this time.

The 2007 squad carried no surprise choices although there were several players, like halfback Andy Ellis, whose selection got some fairly extensive public debate.

This time? Hard to see any surprise faces unless there is a rethink at hooker, a loose forward shuffle and Matt Todd, Victor Vito or Luke Braid is picked to make up the quintet, or someone is injured in South Africa."

All Blacks prop Tony Woodcock, talking to the Dominion Post's Liam Napier, claims he is confident in his match fitness.

"Tony Woodcock admits to doubts, but is now confident he is ready to play his first match for All Blacks this year after just 40 minutes of rugby in over three months.

Woodcock, who conceded he was carrying "a couple" of extra kilograms, will go into next week's clash against the battle-hardened, refreshed and full-strength Springboks in Port Elizabeth after just half a game for North Harbour.

The world's premier loosehead and most-capped All Black prop has endured a frustrating and prolonged recovery from his curious mid-foot ligament sprain, and then picked up a hamstring twinge in his brief outing for Harbour.

That limited preparation is hardly ideal for the physical test match intensity and combative nature of the front-row, but with two matches before the World Cup, the big and brutal Boks are set to provide a measuring stick as to whether Woodcock is up to the task."

England's very own Lazarus Steve Thompson talks to Rob Kitson, of the Guardian, about his remarkable rugby career.

"No Englishman is approaching this World Cup with a greater sense of wonderment than Steve Thompson. Four years ago, at the 2007 tournament, he could be found propping up the bars of Paris, enjoying himself as retired players are entitled to do. His weight had ballooned to 138kg, specialists having advised him his neck was too weak to contemplate playing again.

As he re-tells the story, even Thompson himself sounds faintly incredulous. "Four years ago I was drunk and a lot heavier as well. I was enjoying my time off and my retired life. I hadn't even thought about coming back. At the time there was no chance. The surgeons were just happy my neck was working to normal standards. It wasn't even a thought in my mind to play again."

The Independent's Chris Hewett analyses the recent developments in England's World Cup pool

"England have been praying for good news on the injury front for much of the summer, with precious little in the way of a response from on high. That changed yesterday when Johnson awoke to the glad tidings that Juan Martin Hernandez, the Maradona of rugby, had failed to recover from a bad knee injury – far worse than the one currently affecting the threatened red-rose captain Lewis Moody – in time to make the Argentina squad for the forthcoming World Cup.

Hernandez, a spellbindingly good full-back whose performances in the outside-half position helped the Pumas to an applecart-upsetting third place at the last tournament in 2007 – they beat France twice, plus Ireland and Scotland, in advancing to a podium finish – should now be at the peak of his powers. Unfortunately for the South Americans, who meet England in Dunedin on 10 September, the ligament damage he suffered while playing for the Parisian club Racing Metro in March has yet to clear up."

David Kelly, of the Irish Independent, talks to former Ireland centre Rob Henderson about who he would have lining up in the centres for the national side during the World Cup.

"Rob Henderson was one of the great jokers of the Irish team but he is deadly serious when he says that Brian O'Driscoll should be stripped of the No 13 jersey.

Henderson is advocating the move to ensure Ireland's greatest player can become a more creative influence and allow the younger talents to cut a dash outside him.

"I'd play Keith Earls there (No 13)," he asserts. "And I'd move Brian in one -- especially if Gordon D'Arcy doesn't make it, and that would be a pity because he's been playing reasonably well over the last two years.

"Fergus McFadden slotting in is reasonable enough, I suppose. I would like Earls to slot into the midfield area. But it can't be something that could be realistically done mid-tournament."

Craig Ray, writing for the South African Times, picks over the controversial issue of transformation in the Currie Cup.

"South African rugby this week ducked its head below the parapet over the lack of black player representation in the Currie Cup and in professional rugby generally.

It was left to Sharks coach John Plumtree to defend the status quo.

The Sharks started the furore by picking an all-white team against the Blue Bulls in round one, prompting SA Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins to angrily fire off letters to the 14 provincial presidents.

What the letters said has not been disclosed, but it's not the first time Hoskins has complained to the provinces and it's not the first time they have ignored him."

Matt Hampson is one of the most inspirational figures in world rugby © Getty Images

Matt Hampson talks to the Daily Telegraph's Elizabeth Grace about his life following his serious injury and resultant paralysis.

"His hands look competent, resting there on the padded arms of his chair. His tanned arms seem strong; his shoulders broad. You might take Matt Hampson for the rugby player he once was. The inertness of the big man’s body isn’t obvious because all the animation is in his great round face.

You don’t think: this is a man who can’t shake your hand. He may be paralysed from the neck down and, for sure, there is a pipe like a vacuum-cleaner attachment sticking out of his neck, but negative thoughts shrivel up in his presence.

Had I heard the one about the shop assistant in Sheffield who was selling him a pair of trainers? There he is, immobilised in his wheelchair, wired to the ventilator that keeps him alive. “They’ll last you a lifetime,” she says. “They’ve got good thick soles.” Hampson chuckles, in so far as a man on a vent can chuckle. “Disability teaches you that people are a bit naive and stupid. That’s why I try to get out and show that there are people in wheelchairs with pipes hanging from their neck, living a life."

Chris Rattue, writing for the New Zealand Herald picks over the latest trend of 'tiredness' amongst the world's elite players.

"It's tiring hearing how tired our rugby players are.

The strain of wading through all the stories about exhausted footballers needing a break means there is barely enough energy left to digest the next story.

I was brought up on the legend of players busting a gut to be All Blacks, but the postscript to tests these days is akin to a fight for the top bunk with Camp Dad Graham Henry providing the ladder.

A four-game stretch rates as a life sentence and even the fearsome frontrower Owen Franks relishes a break in the name of recuperative weightlifting and eating."

The Sydney Morning Herald's Jamie Pandaram believes the Waratahs have an outside shot of signing All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams.

"The Waratahs have emerged as shock contenders for the signature of Sonny Bill Williams next year, as the Kiwi superstar considers walking away from the All Blacks after the World Cup.

While Williams has verbally agreed to stay in New Zealand for another 12 months, he has yet to sign with the New Zealand Rugby Union and there is no contractual obligation blocking a defection to NSW, where he could become the face of the game in Sydney.

The NZRU yesterday said Williams had signed with them, but the Herald understands he has given them only a verbal guarantee.

The Waratahs approached Williams' management about a deal last month. At that time they were told he was tied up for next year, but things seem to have changed dramatically given he has failed to sign with a Kiwi Super Rugby team."

Andy Howell, writing for theWestern Mail has backed controversial Welsh back Gavin Henson to make their World Cup squad.

"There are plenty of shrewd judges out there who would have you believe that Gavin Henson might not be anywhere near New Zealand next month.

And, never one to want to spoil a story, the glamour boy of Welsh rugby played along with that view when he spoke to the media at the squad’s headquarters yesterday.

Henson suggested, not for the first time in recent months, that he might be in the last-chance saloon and just one match away from World Cup oblivion.

The 29-year-old claimed there were three centres ahead of him in Warren Gatland’s pecking order – Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies and young Scarlet Scott Williams.

That’s without mentioning a certain James Hook, who, like his former Ospreys pal, can play nearly anywhere in the backline."

Chris Hewett, writing for the Independent, ponders England and Lewis Moody's predicament ahead of the World Cup.

"At this rate, England will not be entirely sure of the identity of their World Cup captain until the day of the opening match against Argentina in Dunedin early next month – or perhaps, given the embarrassingly chaotic state they found themselves in the last time they played Test rugby in the land of the All Blacks a little over three years ago, the day after it. Lewis Moody may or may not make it on to the flight to Auckland, his latest medical prognosis being of the "clear as mud" variety, and even if he does fly, he may or may not be fit in time for the meeting with the South Americans.

"All we can do is give him time and see how things develop," said the England scrummaging coach Graham Rowntree, who, as an old clubmate of Moody's at Leicester, is not wholly unfamiliar with the sight of a filthy great question mark hovering over the orthopaedically challenged flanker's immediate prospects of playing a game of rugby. "This is a week by week thing, and we'll reassess him in a few days. He's vital to us: he's done a great job leading the squad. Would he be missed? Of course he would. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw will hope to lift the elusive World Cup come October © Getty Images

The New Zealand Herald's Wynne Gray has called for Richie McCaw to be the first man to reach the elusive 100 caps mark for New Zealand.

"Whatever plans the All Black selectors have, I hope they allow captain Richie McCaw to become the first player to play 100 tests for New Zealand.

A shade sentimental, perhaps, but he is the longest-serving All Black, he is the captain and, fitness permitting, it would be an extra mark of respect to the revered loose forward.

That outcome may not be possible as the selectors juggle their squad through the overseas tests against the Boks and Wallabies before the World Cup. Injury may take the decision away from the panel but it would seem hollow if McCaw was not first or at least equal first to that honour.

Maybe the selectors will dodge the emotion and just plough on, but somehow I doubt it."

Former All Blacks legend Justin Marshall, talking to Iain Payten of the Courier Mail, has called on Robbie Deans to recall Matt Giteau to the Wallabies fold.

"Former All Black Justin Marshall says Quade Cooper "totally lost the plot" at Eden Park and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans must recall Matt Giteau as an insurance policy.

Hours after Giteau turned out for Randwick at Coogee Oval at the weekend, Cooper struggled against the intense pressure of the All Blacks defence in the Wallabies' 30-14 defeat on Saturday.

Marshall said Cooper was "astounded, bewildered, blown away, confused, shocked and stupefied", and his old Crusaders mentor Deans now faces big questions ahead of naming his World Cup squad next week.

"Like what the hell do I do now? Do I dump Cooper? Was I too hasty in shelving Matt Giteau? And do I swallow my pride and bring him back? I think he has to now," Marshall wrote on a New Zealand website."

Marc Hinton, writing for Dominion Post, believes the All Blacks supporters should boycott the overpriced jersey.

"Here's an idea fellow Kiwis: just don't buy the damn overpriced All Blacks jersey. Ignore it, like it's the outcast it's fast becoming.

It seems to me that a mass boycott by all New Zealanders is the only way to get the message through to a company that clearly doesn't give a toss about the people who support the national team it sponsors.

So the only solution is the blindingly obvious one. Vote with your hands. Keep your ziz-zaps zipped.

If every New Zealander refuses to part with the extortionate amount that All Blacks sponsor adidas are now asking them to pay for what is really nothing more than a glorified T-shirt, and the stock just sits on the shelves, well they'll soon get the message, won't they?

Though I wonder. It would seem this German-headquartered organisation would rather eat the meagre profits it makes in the tiny New Zealand market than admit they were wrong and back down."

The Irish Independent's Tony Ward believes inter-squad harmony is key for Ireland ahead of the forthcoming World Cup.

"Far be it from me to defend that most selfish species, the rugby coach -- most are bold and brash enough to look after themselves -- but how anyone could be critical of what transpired at Murrayfield on Saturday is beyond me.

For all but the final few minutes of the opening game of the season, the Irish shadow line-up -- if it was even that -- went close to beating two-thirds of the Scottish first XV on their own patch.

But where are we going here? In all honesty, does it really matter whether we won 6-3 or lost 10-6? Who cares if the record books now show that on Saturday, August 6 2011, Scotland beat Ireland in a warm-up international in Edinburgh?

Of course those at the heart of it -- the Irish players and management -- will make the appropriate soundings for public consumption, but privately the bottom-line objective was very far removed from adding a 'W' to the ego card in Murrayfield."

The New Zealand Herald's Steve Deane believes the tide may be turning in the relationship between the NRL and the NZRU.

"Hopefully when Santa comes slithering down Rene Ranger's chimney this Christmas he's holding a massive contract offer from the Warriors.

Okay, so just another job offer for a player so outrageously gifted he's been dubbed Superman might not be an ideal present, but for Warriors fans a superhero centre signing would be a gratefully accepted offering.

It's time for league to take back the initiative when it comes to cross-code talent poaching.

With the amount of money in the game widely tipped for a big increase when the next broadcasting deal is struck, NRL clubs may soon have the means to not only halt a player drain to rugby that changed directions in 1995, but re-reverse it."

Andy Robinson still has much to ponder despite Joe Ansbro's late try against Ireland © Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph's Alasdair Reid believes Scotland now face a race against time to hone their preparations for the forthcoming World Cup.

"To Scotland the scoreboard; to Ireland a rather better result. Declan Kidney’s side took their leave of Edinburgh knowing that they have much work to do, but also that they will have the opportunities to get the jobs done.

For Andy Robinson’s Scotland, however, the World Cup build-up now looks like a race against time.

Ireland will play four more games before they set off for New Zealand, three of them full Tests. Scotland have only one more match — against Italy in a fortnight’s time — but this narrow squeak of a win over Ireland on Saturday left Robinson with more questions than could ever be answered in the space of 80 minutes.

So ring-rusty were some of his key players that it is far from certain that Robinson is much wiser now about their readiness for the World Cup than he was before the match. Can he afford to take No 8 Johnnie Beattie to New Zealand without giving the out-of-sorts player another competitive outing?"

Peter Bills, writing for the New Zealand Herald, provides his take on the England versus Wales clash and argues that England need to improve substantially if they are to trouble the southern hemisphere triumphant come September.

"They packed 80,000 in to watch it ('no, please', as the late Frankie Howerd used to say....'don't laugh') and you had to assume the punters enjoyed their day out in the sunshine.

Rather like the sunbather in a back garden, laying down to enjoy a nice sleep...unaware of the snake slithering across the garden to investigate.

For if anyone thought England's performance against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday in any sense prepared them for a Rugby World Cup and exposure to the likes of New Zealand, they must be living in cloud cuckoo land."

The Dominion Post's Greg Growden reflects on the Tri-Nations clash between New Zealand and Australia.

"The body language said it all. An hour after the collapse of yet another Wallabies Bledisloe Cup campaign, Robbie Deans and several of his players had to confront the media.

Seated in a row on a raised stage were Digby Ioane, James Horwill, Rocky Elsom, Deans, Quade Cooper and Will Genia.

Ioane was slumped in his seat. Horwill wasn't in the mood for any nonsense. Cooper looked dazed. Genia appeared puzzled. Elsom's shoulders were drooped. And Deans had that miserable Hangdog Harry look as if to say how much more of this All Blacks- inflicted torture could he endure. The answers all had an edge. And it revolved around how the Wallabies were once more infuriated they had wasted the moment.

The prematch vibes had been so encouraging. The Wallabies had arrived in Auckland, not exactly boasting they were about to end a 25-year Eden Park drought, but with a bounce to their step."

The Sydney Morning Herald's Jamie Pandaram expresses his concern over the inability of the Wallabies' ability to break down New Zealand.

"If there was any lack of respect in the Bledisloe Cup, it was the All Blacks' blatant disregard for Australia's attack. Far from fearing the magic tricks of Quade Cooper and co, the Kiwis gave them the ball in prime field position and said ''Do your best'' before smashing them.

How's this for disrespect - with the first five possessions New Zealand had in their own half in Saturday's match, they opted for short kicks or midfield bombs every time. No clearing kicks necessary, no concern of turning over possession in dangerous territory."

The Western Mail's Delme Parfitt picks over Saturday's England versus Wales clash.

"Warren Gatland cut a quietly optimistic figure in the aftermath of Saturday’s encounter at Twickenham.

Like his players, he expressed his dissatisfaction with having lost the game, of course he did.

And the grim news of Morgan Stoddart’s broken leg did cast a pall over everything, with the Scarlets man’s hopes of going to New Zealand ended in the cruellest of fashions when he was tackled, innocuously, by Delon Armitage shortly after half time.

However, you could tell from Gatland’s demeanour that he had also seen enough to provide him with encouragement going into the remaining two summer warm-up games and the World Cup beyond.

After completing his formal press duties, he stopped to chat over a cup of coffee with journalists. There was none of the stony-faced coldness that has accompanied some of the Welsh post-mortems of the last 18 months."

In the Daily Telegraph, Mick Cleary adds his voice to the growing campaign for Manu Tuilagi to fly to New Zealand.

"But each and every one of the six World Cup winning teams have had a streak of boldness at their core. That much applies to management as much as it does to players. Put simply, they have got to pick the right blokes to get the job done. Caution and conservatism will take you only so far. They most certainly will not take you to the podium.

And that is why Martin Johnson has already sent out the right signals in letting Manu Tuilagi loose on to the international stage. The 20-year-old Samoan-born centre has the X-factor, the potential to do damage, to threaten the opposition in defence and to excite his own team-mates in attack.

He is powerful as well as potent. Tuilagi makes things happen, as he showed when busting through to score England's second try shortly after half-time at Twickenham on Saturday."

James Haskell celebrates his try against Wales at Twickenham © Getty Images

England's 23-19 victory over Wales at Twickenham promised much but ultimately posed many more questions for Martin Johnson, according Paul Ackford in the Sunday Telegraph

"Inconclusive. For just over half of this competitive game England looked in fine fettle. There was pace and invention in their back play and the forwards thundered into the tackles and the breakdowns with real venom.

"When Manu Tulagi bullocked over for England’s second try off an inside pass from Jonny Wilkinson three minutes into the second half to provide an 11 point cushion at 18-7, it looked for all the world as if England would bury Wales.

"Fast forward thirty minutes and it was England on the back foot, England scrambling to defend their line as Wales ran in two second half tries by Shane Williams and George North. Worryingly for those in the black (England) shirts, there was even the slightest whiff of a chance that Wales might kick on and nick a result.

"So the question now is which England is the real England? The one in which James Haskell and Simon Shaw bossed and bullied the Welsh forwards, where the sainted Wilkinson bobbed and darted and brought Tuilagi and the big, ball-carrying English forwards into the game with increasing deftness, where Delon Armitage attacked with a fizz which was alarmingly good? Or the England which was running out of steam inside the final quarter, the England which appeared shapeless and vulnerable to attacks out wide?"

In the Observer, Eddie Butler says the injuries to Wales' Morgan Stoddart and England's Lewis Moody will cast as shadow over an otherwise productive day at Twickenham for both sides.

"There was little danger of either side peaking too early. Bodies arrived at blazing Twickenham still heavy from all the conditioning work of the summer. This was an exercise in restoring some instinct of the rugby field to limbs hardened in the gym.

"In that respect, both sides can feel relatively satisfied with what happened. England and Wales will be able to reflect on many positive aspects of this full-blown game. But whether that compensates for the loss of players to injury is debatable. A great conundrum remains: is the risk of international rugby worth taking when the World Cup is a month away."

Manu Tuilagi's impressive England debut against Wales on Saturday has propelled the Samoan-born midfielder in to the centre of Martin Johnson's plans, according to Brendan Gallagher in the Daily Telegraph.

"There were not many Martin Johnson smiles on Saturday - England were too patchy and careless for that - but his face did light up with satisfaction and conviction in the 43rd minute when Manu Tuilagi blasted his way through the Wales defence to score under the posts.

"All the extraordinary Tuilagi family are forces of nature in full flight and young Manu might just be the strongest and best of them all.

"The England midfield has been lacking such exuberance and physicality for a while now, which was why Tuilagi, with just 20 first-team appearances for Leicester, has been fast-tracked into the squad.

"As the Leicester centre cut a perfect angle off Jonny Wilkinson’s inside flick and left Alun Wyn-Jones and Morgan Stoddart for dead, you could suddenly see what all the fuss is about and you can forgive him a smattering of minor mistakes in his general game. Not that they will have escaped Johnson’s gaze."

Writing for Walesonline, Delme Parfitt argues that Wales will take many positives from their trip to Twickenham despite ultimate defeat.

"Everyone said winning was the key for Wales at Twickenham, but Welsh supporters will not have left the ground in despair by any means.

"Narrow defeats in south-east London for the men in red jerseys have been rare in the last two decades. Only once have Wales won there in that time and on most other occasions they’ve retreated in despair, sometimes disgrace.

"Not this time though. And while four wins in 17 games is hardly the kind of record you want with a World Cup around the corner, Wales, with a host of front-line players absent, produced enough to suggest they could pose a bigger threat than some cynics expect come the serious stuff in New Zealand."

In The Scotsman Tom English is struck by a sense of deja vu as Scotland toil to a 10-6 victory over Ireland at Murrayfield.

"IF Sylvester Stallone lives to play a dozen Rockys, Arnold Schwarzenegger two dozen Terminators and Matt Damon 100 Jason Bournes, then none of those films would have the same familiarity, the same "haven't I seen this before?" quality as the movie we watched at Murrayfield.

"This was Scotland: The Sequel of The Sequel of The Sequel. It was the humdrum and cliched tale of a team who cannot score, who do everything bar score, who drive themselves, their fans and their coach half-demented by their inability to score. Roll credits. The End."

Neil Francis, in the Irish Independent, is similarly disillusioned with the entertainment offered up at Murrayfield.

"Yesterday morning I watched a Test match, a real Test match, a Test match of unquenchable intensity. It was something I had to do. A form of fascination which would fortify me against the unendurable mediocrity that I knew was coming at around 2.30 at Murrayfield.

"How do we classify what took place yesterday afternoon? Bogus? Counterfeit? Certainly there were 30 rugby players, there was a rugby ball, apparently there was even one of the best referees in the world on hand, but any passing resemblance to a Test match was purely coincidental."

All Blacks wing Cory Jane will be hoping for another try-scoring performance against the Wallabies © Getty Images

Writing in the New Zealand Herald,, Wynne Gray lists those within the All Blacks starting line-up for Saturday's Tri-Nations clash with Australia in Auckland that are under pressure to perform.

"One side will leave the World Cup final venue tonight with renewed confidence they can repeat in 79 days.

"Victory in the opening Bledisloe Cup duel at Eden Park will be another notch in the confidence belt, a boost in self-belief about the pathway to the global tournament.

"That psychological reinforcement cannot be overlooked as the transtasman foes will have a mere two tests left before the seventh global event starts.

"For some this match may be their last chance, a final audition for All Blacks wanting to make the cut when 30 players are named for the tournament. It gets even tighter next week when the All Blacks trim their squad to 26 for their last offshore matches in Port Elizabeth and Brisbane against the Boks and Wallabies.

"Who fits in that category?"

Chris Hewett of The Independent reports that Lewis Moody is under pressure to lead England to victory at Twickenham on Saturday.

"Not so very long ago, there were three certainties about Lewis Moody: that he would always generate more joules of energy than any other player on the field; that he would, at some stage during a season, find himself on the painful end of an orthopaedic calamity; and that he would lead England at the World Cup in New Zealand.

"The last of those certainties has suddenly turned into a maybe. The Bath forward needs a strong performance - perhaps two strong performances - over the next few days if he is to fly to All Black country as the main man.

"The odds are still heavily in his favour, and when England take the field at a sold-out Twickenham for this afternoon's fascinating warm-up match with Wales, Moody will be the first man out of the tunnel. But the England manager Martin Johnson, his one-time Leicester club-mate, raised fresh questions about the captaincy yesterday by declining to rule out a change of tack. 'We'll name a captain when we name the squad,' he said sharply, and as the squad will not be revealed for another fortnight or so, the issue remains live.'"

In his column in The Telegraph, Will Greenwood previews England's opening World Cup warm-up game, against Wales at Twickenham.

"England versus Wales is never a waste of time. This is the first salvo in the World Cup campaign, a chance to crank through the gears, and get back to playing rugby.

"IIt is also the time to cut squads down; to send some players home and promote others. Over the past six weeks, 45 have been living in hope as part of England's training team, preparing themselves for a trip to New Zealand. That number has already been reduced to 40, and more are going home soon. It is brutal and cruel. But Martin Johnson knows there can be no room for sentiment.

"Cold, calculated decisions are needed to pick the best 30 who can give the greatest chance of victory in October. There are those in the squad who know, even if they won’t say it publicly, that they are fine. That list probably has 22 names on it. There are also those who know deep down that they are helping make up the numbers. And then there is the third group, the in-betweeners."

All Blacks lock Brad Thorn could not inspire the Crusaders to victory in their Super Rugby showdown with the Reds © Getty Images

New Zealand's Brad Thorn tells Wayne Smith of The Australian how he was left emotionally drained after his club's recent defeat by the Reds.

"What happens when you've lived the fairytale and championed the righteous cause but the ending turned out to be anything but happy?

"In the case of All Blacks second-rower Brad Thorn, the result has been gloomy days and sleepless nights.

"When Christchurch was devastated by a massive earthquake in late February, it brought an already close Crusaders side even closer. From that moment on, they were engaged not just in a Super Rugby campaign but instead on an almost holy crusade to bring hope again to the traumatised people of Canterbury."

In an interview with The Scotsman, Ross Ford talks about the unusual syndrome which could have easily ruled him out of action for two years.

"Ross Ford may have been the strongest player in Scotland's World Cup squad for some time, but he has discovered this year that there is a limit even to what he can do.

"The 6ft 1in, 27-year-old hooker is a veritable beast of a man, his flexing biceps virtually blocking out the sun behind him, and the pleasant view of the Old Course in St Andrews, as we sit discussing Scotland's potential ahead of tomorrow's opening Warm-up Test with Ireland at Murrayfield.

"As for the width of his quads and calf muscles, 'bulbous' does not begin to quantify them but gives an impression of their strongman-like shape.

"It was always thus with Ford, a Head Boy at high school in Kelso, whose appetite for hard work in rugby knew no bounds. Until this year. His insatiable desire had always been applauded by coaches as the model example of what it takes to compete with the best in sport, until the lines on medical graphs began to veer worryingly into the red."

Robert Kitson of The Guardian reveals that Samoan-born centre Manu Tuilagi is the talk of Martin Johnson's training camp and is expected to make a big impact at Twickenham on Saturday.

"It is six years since England named a young, trembling debutant called Mathew Tait to face Wales, an experiment that ended in conspicuous failure. Now they have picked another youthful centre with the same initials to wear the No13 jersey against the same opposition, fully expecting a happier outcome. It says everything about the potential impact of Manu Tuilagi, England's new hunk of Samoan muscle, that those currently doing the trembling are likely to be the Wales midfield.

"There is even a chance, as predicted by the normally understated Jonny Wilkinson, that England have unearthed a force of nature capable of transforming not just their immediate World Cup prospects but the wider landscape of rugby. Wilkinson's claim that England have not introduced a more striking game-changing talent since the great Jason Robinson is a bold one but there is not a single current England squad member who disagrees.

"Tuilagi is only 20 but he could yet be the catalyst Martin Johnson needs to transform his squad into serious World Cup contenders."

Robbie Deans is yet to secure a Tri-Nations title for Australia and the pressure is on the Kiwi ahead of the World Cup © Getty Images

Wallabies legend Tim Horan, writing for the Courier Mail, believes it is time for Wallabies coach Robbie Deans to start delivering.

"In any business or organisation, when a new CEO or managing director takes over, they are usually given three to four years to turn it around.

Robbie Deans is in his fourth season as coach of the Wallabies and, as far as supporters are concerned, it is time for him to deliver results.

It's fair to say he is not under pressure for his job from the ARU but there is certainly a huge expectation from the Australian rugby community for the Wallabies to start producing big results and to start seeing the big trophies.

I am a big admirer of Deans. I believe he is the best man for the job, and has done amazing things for Australian rugby at many levels."

Duncan Johnstone, writing for the Dominion Post, provides his take on New Zealand's squad to face the Wallabies on Saturday.

"Graham Henry has responded to a heavyweight challenge by naming close to his full-strength team for Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup battle - gosh, he might just have afforded the Wallabies some respect.

Deep down it's more about fine-tuning his preferred lineup as time ticks away on this massive season but there's no doubt there's a need to get something close to a top lineup out to handle the worthy - and lippy - challenge from the Aussies.

This is largely built around about experience and combinations although some examinations continue in the outside backs where Sitiveni Sivivatu gets another chance to impress and Hosea Gear, the top wing by the end of last year, gets a belated start now he's overcome his hamstring twinge.

Of course, there's still Tony Woodcock to return and always a debate over the rich halfbacks stocks where Piri Weepu gets the starting jersey this year. But make no mistake - this is the backbone of the side that will carry New Zealand's World Cup hopes through the tournament that starts on September 9."

Former England prop Jeff Probyn, talking to The Western Mail's Gareth Griffiths, believes Wales must win at England to lay their Six Nations ghosts to rest.

"Former England prop Jeff Probyn insists Warren Gatland’s Wales need a win at Twickenham on Saturday far more than England do.

In a hard-hitting appraisal of where both countries stand, Probyn warned Gatland’s men that the trouncing England suffered in Dublin at the hands of Ireland to deny them a Grand Slam on the final weekend of the Six Nations will have been just the wake-up call Martin Johnson’s men needed.

And the man who was once dubbed the best prop in the world, even though he didn’t play international rugby until he was 31, also dismissed claims Wales face a World Cup group of death in New Zealand.

Probyn’s assessment comes at a time when the ghosts of the August 2007 62-5 thrashing Wales took at Headquarters have predictably been on the loose once more."

The Guardian's rugby writers provide their views on exactly where the European nations stand prior to the World Cup.

"State of the nations: how Europe is shaping up for Rugby World Cup

From no-holds-barred trial matches to tough boot camps, the northern hemisphere sides are working tirelessly to peak at the right time."

The Independent's Chris Hewett previews Saturday's Test between England and Wales.

"The seventh World Cup, to be played on the same patch of silver-ferned earth where New Zealand ran away with the first World Cup without breaking sweat almost a quarter of a century ago, is still 36 days away, but the journey starts here in the old country this weekend with warm-up games featuring all four home nations. The decision to scrap southern hemisphere tours in years when the Webb Ellis Trophy is up for grabs means the elite European sides will be playing their first matches for almost five months. There is a lot to be done, and precious little time in which to do it."

The Daily Mail's Luke Benedict chats to the enigma that is England wing Ugo Monye.

"Ugo Monye is England's wing on a prayer. While his team-mates get pumped up on gangsta rap, he hides himself away whispering words from the gospel.

'Before every game I try and find a corner,' he says. 'You've normally got hardcore rap in the room, with 50 Cent swearing his face off, and there's me trying to find a quiet corner to say a prayer.

But I love all that music as well so it's a bit of a contradiction!'

The confession is telling.

Monye is anything but your holier-than-thou preacher."

The Sydney Morning Herald's Tom Cary provides his view on England's all-black kit debate

"World Cup favourites must be worryingly fragile if they are letting England's away kit get under their skin, says Tom Cary.

Nike's marketing men must be chuckling into their skinny lattes. The launch of England's new 'all black' change strip for the Rugby World Cup has suckered in just enough people to have gone viral.

England have been variously accused of being "a bunch of wannabes", of "disrespecting the legacy of past players" and of "psychological warfare" by plumping for a colour universally associated with the New Zealand team."

Cory Jane impressed against South Africa on Saturday but will that be enough to secure a start for the Kiwi's come September? © Getty Images

The Dominion Post's Marc Hinton has a look at the fearsome battle for the All Blacks wing berth.

"This gets more interesting by the week. Which All Black wing is going to be the first to blink?

Can Hosea Gear hold his nerve against what some are calling the best backline in world rugby? As pre-World Cup storylines go, you can't beat the long division nightmare that is Graham Henry's back three equation.

It really has emerged as the compelling theme of the first two tests of the pre-World Cup campaign.

There are eight contenders - nine if you count crocked utility Richard Kahui - going for five, maybe six spots. Hopefuls are so far lighting it up. No one's playing their way out, and in fact at least two have stormed into World Cup calculations. Something is going to have to give somewhere."

The Australian's Wayne Smith vents his spleen over the Springboks decision to leave 21 players in South Africa prior to their tour of the southern hemisphere and asks SANZAR to investigate the matter.

"The real question, now that the farcical exercise with the Springboks-Lite has mercifully run its course, is what Rassie Erasmus has been up to in Rustenburg for the past fortnight with the 21 "injured" South African players.

Just how blatant a slap in the face South Africa delivered to its two SANZAR partners by sending its B team to Australia and New Zealand will only be known when the Springbok side to play the Wallabies in Durban on August 14 is announced.

But irrespective of whether a handful of top players are still missing because of injury, the fact is South Africa had planned months ago to fob off its second-stringers on Australian and New Zealand crowds and reserve its best side for its own spectators.

The ploy is being touted in some quarters as a masterstroke, designed to deliver the Springboks to the World Cup fresh, fit and ready to defend the title they won in 2007. That may be, but it is also rude, discourteous and utterly insulting to the two other nations contesting the Tri-Nations series and should never be allowed to happen again."

Hugh Farrelly, writing for the Irish Independent, talks to a bullish Denis Leamy ahead of Scotland's clash with Ireland on Saturday.

"New Zealand - a country where rugby reputations are easily shattered and respect is hard to win.

Paul O'Connell has been down there a few times without ever managing to convince the Kiwis of the quality long evident to northern admirers. Jamie Heaslip was ready to confirm his status as one of the world's finest No 8s last year only to be dismissed - in every sense - as Ireland slumped to a record defeat.

And even Brian O'Driscoll (whose status as one of the finest centres to have ever donned togs is long since assured) still attracts mockery over the 'Speargate' farce on the 2005 Lions tour.

Then there is Denis Leamy. They are not good with names down there - unless you are an All Black -- but the Cashel man's performances over the course of three Tests in New Zealand have certainly registered."

The Guardian's Rob Kitson experiences the feel-good factor at Pennyhill Park as England get ready for the forthcoming World Cup.

"Driving up through the pine trees and rhododendron bushes to England's Bagshot base this week, it almost felt like the good old days. A couple of news photographers stood at the entrance, papping away at every car that swept in. Beyond them was Dave Alred, marching purposefully back up to the hotel having put Jonny Wilkinson through his kicking paces. From the tented gym once installed by Sir Clive Woodward, the sound of loud, feelgood music boomed out an unmistakeable message: England's players are enjoying their work again.

You certainly get that impression from the way they talk. The first two matches of the Tri-Nations have shown how lethally dangerous Australia and New Zealand can be when invited to run from deep. Not so long ago England would have deferentially saluted the shimmering talent of Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Dan Carter and Mils Muliaina and wondered privately if they had the artillery to match."

Peter Bills, writing for The New Zealand Herald, ponders whether All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina could be their weak link going into the 2011 World Cup.

"Call it churlish, if you wish, or blinkered partisanship if you must. But the fact is, there were areas of the All Blacks game against South Africa last weekend that still need polishing ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

When you are shooting for the stars you can never be satisfied just to reach the sky. We can be sure that the three wise men, aka the All Blacks coaching triumvirate, are not men prone to premature celebration.

To win any game by six tries to one is a huge encouragement. But only by setting standards that are close to the stratosphere can sports teams truly deliver. They may not quite hit the peak every time but if they are trained to aim that high often enough they should perform at a pretty lofty level.

Mils Muliaina did not have a bad game against the South Africans' apology for a Test team in Wellington. He dealt competently with the ball whenever it found him, carried it back efficiently enough and covered diligently, albeit without ever really being seriously tested. Such was the nature of a totally one-sided contest."

Former Wallabies captain Andrew Slack, writing for The New Zealand Herald, looks back at the historic rivalry between Australia and New Zealand.

"Australia's relationship with the All Blacks might be best evaluated by keeping Greg Martin and Eddie Stokes in mind.

Former Wallaby fullback Martin was the motivating force behind a Golden Oldies Wallabies and All Blacks match at Ballymore this year that raised more than $500,000 for the Christchurch earthquake appeal.

While the public response in Australia was due in large degree to a natural desire to help out however possible, there's no question the size of the reaction was in some part due to the enormous respect, and indeed awe, that is reserved here for that symbol of New Zealand drive, determination, perseverance and excellence - the All Black jersey."

Both the All Blacks and Australia will hope to put down a marker ahead of the forthcoming World Cup on Saturday © Getty Images

The Dominion Post's Duncan Johnstone casts his eye ahead to Saturday's Tri-Nations clash.

"Saturday's Bledisloe Cup test is the All Blacks' most important assignment before the Rugby World Cup.

The match venue alone is enough to justify that sort of status.

With the test, that doubles as a Tri-Nations assignment, being played at World Cup headquarters, it is imperative that the All Blacks maintain their impressive record at Eden Park.

To have the Wallabies waltz across the Tasman and claim victory at HQ on the eve of the tournament would be a huge psychological lift for Robbie Deans' side and, equally, a bitter blow to the All Blacks.

There is no doubt there's a swagger to the Aussies at the moment on the back of the Queensland Reds' Super Rugby triumph.

That was tempered somewhat by the sloppy loss of the back-up Wallabies to Samoa. But they have a spring back in their step after demolishing the B Boks in Sydney although they will have noted that the All Blacks did an even better job on the South Africans in Wellington last week."

Gavin Mairs, writing for The Daily Telegraph, understands that the government will weigh into the recent developments at the RFU.

"Hugh Robertson, the sports minister, has called for an independent review of the governance of the Rugby Football Union in response to the turmoil that has engulfed the governing body since John Steele was sacked as chief executive, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

It is understood that Paul Murphy, the RFU acting chairman, was summoned to see Robertson at his offices in London on Thursday to explain the alarming meltdown that has left the organisation without a permanent chief executive or chairman less than two months before England are due to take responsibility for hosting the 2015 World Cup, for which the Government has underwritten £25million of the £80million host fee.

Robertson, who recently called football the worst run sport in the country while giving evidence to the culture, media and sport committee carrying out an inquiry into football governance, expressed his “extreme disquiet” about recent events at Twickenham to Murphy, who was summoned to provide an update following an RFU board meeting on Wednesday.

Wales centre Jamie Roberts talks up the England versus Wales clash with Wales Online's Gareth Griffiths.

"Wales centre Jamie Roberts has insisted Saturday’s World Cup warm-up against England will match the intensity of a Six Nations showdown between the two bitter rivals.

Warren Gatland’s men start their three-match World Cup preparations at Twickenham this weekend the first game in a double-header against Martin Johnson’s men before Argentina’s visit to Cardiff.

The Welsh players know their World Cup selection fate depends on the next few weeks before the 30-man party is selected on August 22 with England the first test.

“Twickenham is sold out. It’s Wales v England. Boys are playing for World Cup places and the chance to realise their dreams,” explained Roberts."

Toby Robson, writing for The New Zealand Herald, analyses the recent happenings at Super Rugby franchise the Hurricanes.

"Hurricanes fans are being dragged kicking and screaming into rugby's professional era.

Coach Mark Hammett is public enemy No 1, the man who is taking apart "their" team. And he's a Cantab to boot. It's simply too much to take.

First it was Skux and Horey, then Azza, and now Powza is heading north.

It prompted Wellington board member Ken Laban to tweet this week he and the rest of Wainuiomata would be Blues supporters next year.

But what happens if Piri Weepu heads to Europe or Japan in 2013?

Will it be Blues or Hurricanes then?"

The Daily Telegraph's Gavin Mairs talks to England fly-half Toby Flood about his former acting days.

"The England fly-half has always displayed a penchant for dramatic contributions and the reason may lie in his lineage: his grandfather, Albert Lieven, was a Hollywood stalwart who appeared in the classic war film The Guns of Navarone.

Lieven, who provides Flood with two of his three middle names, was cast as ‘The Commandant’ in the 1961 picture, based on the Dodecanese campaign during the Second World War.
“He played the German general with the big red collars,” said Flood, who has scored 193 points in 40 appearances for England.

“He did a lot of other films too, but it is The Guns of Navarone that is shown the most. It’s a good film.”

The thespian link does not stop there. Flood is also named after his paternal grandfather, Gerald, another successful actor, appearing in television shows such as Doctor Who and The Rat Catchers."

The Independent's Chris Hewett has a look over Martin Johnson's recent changes to the England training squad.

"If it was perfectly legitimate for Martin Johnson to take a cosmopolitan approach to World Cup squad selection back in June – for every red-rose-tinted Colonel Blimp who flirted with spontaneous combustion at the number of southern-hemisphere types in the England manager's 45-man party, untold thousands failed to see the problem – there was something about his decision to pick Leicester's No 8 Thomas Waldrom, for no obvious reason and on the basis of no discernible evidence, that stuck in the craw.

Not least because the uncapped New Zealander's sudden promotion to elite status destroyed the hopes and dreams of two of the club game's hardest-working and most effective loose forwards: Luke Narraway of Gloucester, whose ironic view of the matter was promptly "tweeted" to the rugby nation, and Phil Dowson of Northampton. Waldrom had done precious little, at least in public, to justify a place among the contenders for next month's tournament in All Black country. Set against Narraway and Dowson, he'd done nothing at all."

All Blacks legend Colin Meads takes the No.1 spot in the Herald's Top 20 Great All Blacks - post 1956. © Getty Images

The New Zealand Herald reveals who made the grade in their list of the 20 Greatest All Blacks - post 1956.

"Television was still in the distance as New Zealand prepared for a three-month invasion from the country's greatest rugby rivals.

The national cricket side had claimed their first test victory, now it was time for a first series scalp against the Springboks.

It was 1956 and New Zealand readied for the first great tour after World War II. The national sport was about to be tested against the traditional enemy.

New Zealand's most celebrated player, Colin Meads, was on the cusp of international selection - so it seemed a good starting point to sift the 20 greatest All Blacks.

That cutoff date eliminates legends such as George Nepia, the Nicolls and Brownlie brothers, Bert Cooke, Billy Wallace, J.B. Smith and many more. But it did not make the selection any easier."

Supersport's Gavin Rich picks through the pieces of the Springboks' fruitless Tri-Nations travels.

"Once the decision to keep the key players in the anticipated World Cup squad at home to be rehabilitated after a long Super Rugby season and to work on strategy and aspects of conditioning under the watch of technical adviser Rassie Erasmus had been taken, the tour was always going to be one to just get through.

As in 2007, when Jake White made the same decision and took a side equally lacking in international experience on the away leg, the results became less significant. His team lost to Australia and New Zealand by similar scores to the ones that this team lost by, but there arguably wasn’t the same backlash from the public than there has been to the most recent trip.

Perhaps it is because this squad went overseas with heightened expectations, some would say unrealistic expectations, that this has been so. White's team in 2007 had already been outplayed at home by the All Blacks when they departed, so there was greater acceptance that the Tri-Nations should effectively be sacrificed.

But while it is true that, as Bok coach Peter de Villiers says, some of the form players from the Super Rugby season were in the group that toured, a close look at the team that lost 40-7 to the All Blacks shows this not to be the case."

Australia will waste little time worrying about a 25-year Eden Park drought ahead of their Tri-Nations clash with the All Blacks on Saturday - the Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden reports.

"They don't care about hoodoos or horrible history. They just get on with it.

That's the opinion of Wallabies coaching coordinator and Test selector David Nucifora, who yesterday argued that the new players who are at the core of the Australian team are not intimidated or even distracted by the fact that so many before them have collapsed at the feet of the All Blacks on New Zealand soil.

On top of their Eden Park record, the Wallabies haven't won anywhere in New Zealand for a decade. But Nucifora says this All Blacks domination fails to inhibit the youthful Australian team, especially as many of them were involved in beating New Zealand in Hong Kong late last year.

''Having so many youthful players in our team is a real positive,'' Nucifora said. ''They don't worry about things like hoodoos or not having won there for a long time. The attitude they've got and the way they play the game in such a positive manner gives us confidence, because we know they will just get on with it. They will get on with their preparation and they will go out there and give it a real crack.''

England fly-half Toby Flood feels confident Martin Johnson's young side can make a big impact in New Zealand this autumn - he talk to The Observer's Donald McRae.

"Inspiring an inconsistent England to Flood's ultimate rugby dream, beating the All Blacks in the World Cup final in Auckland on 23 October, might prove harder than teaching his dog to mow the lawn. But England's most serious hope rests on Flood's ability at fly-half to unleash an attacking backline to supplement more traditional strengths of forward power and stolid determination.

"That's absolutely the kind of rugby we want to play in this World Cup," Flood says of his preference for an expansive style. "But I'm just one player alongside a whole group that gives us more options. The way the game is officiated now also encourages you to take more risks. With the firepower we've got – and Ben Foden, Mark Cueto and Chris Ashton are devastating in space – it's important I get the ball to them.

"Look what Australia did to South Africa [the Saturday before last] when Will Genia gave the best performance I've seen in ages. The way he played and kicked, how he ran and marshalled his forwards, allowed Australia to take their opportunities."

England have beaten Australia in their last two matches, in Sydney last summer and a few months later at Twickenham. Flood and Ben Youngs, who partners him at Leicester, were scintillating behind the scrum. "Beating Australia in their backyard gives you confidence," Flood says, "and a real feel for our potential."