World Cup daily: England expects; Haka vs Hakarena

Updated 17/09/2015 at 09:37 GMT

Rugby fever builds ahead of the opening game, as Jonah Lomu and Matt Dawson take part in a World Cup dance-off and Italy find themselves in a Luc Besson movie.

England: straining at the leash to get started

Image credit: AFP

THE BIG STORY

It’s nearly here! The Rugby World Cup starts tomorrow as England take on Fiji at Twickenham.

It has been a fairly low-key build-up to the big event, but that will all change once shots are fired in anger at 20:00, with England looking to get their tournament off to a flier.

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First up comes the opening ceremony at 18:45, the theme for which is ‘Breaking New Ground’.

If it’s anything like what happened in 1999 at the Opening Ceremony in Cardiff, it should be quite the spectacle.

THE BUZZ

We all love a good haka, and who better than Jonah Lomu to get the tournament under way by scaring the tourists in London’s Covent Garden?

THE SIN BIN

Meanwhile, England’s 2003 World Cup winner Matt Dawson has apparently upset kiwis with his disrespectful ‘Hakarena’ – a jolly wheeze in conjunction with menswear company Jacamo.

A trawl of Twitter – never usually slow to get outraged – shows almost nobody is offended by anything other than the quality of Dawson's moves. Judge for yourself...

TOMORROW’S ACTION

England v Fiji – Twickenham – 20:00

England coach Stuart Lancaster is not exactly a man of mystery, having named his starting XV on Monday, some 100 hours before game time. It’s the same team that beat Ireland 21-13 in the final warm-up game. England should win comfortably, but Fiji are more than capable of putting in some big hits and jinking runs. It should be fun.

Full match coverage.