England

After England's first warm-up match on the way to the World Cup, Martin Johnson said "I'd rather win a game like that, than score 60 points and everybody think you're great

To this day, the opening chapter has stayed with me closely as it illustrated there is more to life than rugby, more to life than sport.

Johnson described England's performance as, "What we wanted€ as they edged out Wales 23-19. Tries from Samoan born Manu Tuilagi and James Haskell proved enough for England to come out of their first World Cup warm up game victorious

Reports are suggesting that on August 1st England and Nike will be unveiling an all black away strip ready for the World Cup

At just 19 years of age Matt Kvesic has already achieved an awful lot in his career and it only looks to get better

England have just named their 45 man training squad for the Rugby World Cup. Fithteen of these players were not born in England and come from ten different countries

After Martin Johnson announced his 45-man training squad for the World Cup, we have a much better idea of who will be heading out to New Zealand to compete for the William Webb Ellis trophy in September

Recently we have had a lot of young, untested and unproven players coming through and playing for England

With the end of season fast approaching in the northern hemisphere and the Super 15 in full swing down south, one thing has been obvious to all

Ovidiu Tonita plies his trade in France with Perpignan. Tonita previously played lock for Romania, however now he plays at No.8 or Flanker

This is my prediction for England's strongest World Cup starting 22. Let us know your thoughts and who would you include in your starting 22?

Many will remember England's World Cup winning side in 2003 with players such as Martin Johnson, Jason Robinson and Jonny Wilkinson

For two current England tighthead props, the seasonal Aviva Premiership reaches its climax next month as all roads lead to the 2011 Rugby World Cup

Although some of England's players were able to raise a wry smile whilst lifting the 6 nations trophy, Martin Johnson's men were desperately disappointed

I always thought that it was common knowledge in rugby circles that the birthplace of a grandparent could have major bearing on who you might end up playing international rugby for

Ireland put in a superb performance against a woeful England team that looked a complete contrast to the team that beat Wales

A below par performance from England saw them beat a resilient Scotland 22-16 at Twickenham which kept their grand slam chances alive

England- France, the game pundits believed to be the game to decide the tournament managed to give 80 minutes of intense rugby from both sides that were gunning for the Grand Slam

England and France line up

Chris Ashton has no problem about the way he is celebrating his tries after the controversial celebration has been getting mixed views from fans and players