Kieran Brookes knows there is room for improvement after England’s opening Rugby World Cup victory over Fiji but the prop is adamant that successfully securing a bonus-point triumph means it was mission accomplished.

Any negative self-reflection after the Ashes should be left firmly to the vanquished Australians, former England wicketkeeper, Alec Stewart, has said.

National Grid is expecting the UK’s demand for electricity to escalate substantially in the coming weeks due to the Rugby World Cup, which gets underway tonight at Twickenham.

Manchester pupils from select schools will be able to design their team’s rugby shirt in conjunction with the All Schools programme and kit suppliers Canterbury.

Oldham’s George Ford has held off Owen Farrell to start at 10 for England in tonight’s World Cup opener against Fiji, but this is far from the first time the two have competed head-to-head.

Jonny May believes England’s back-line can develop into the very best in rugby as a gruelling summer of World Cup preparation comes to a head on Friday.

World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio admits England are light on experience for their 2015 campaign but the former No.8 insists home advantage could be more than enough to compensate.

England will have few excuses should their lineout falter against Fiji on Friday night but Courtney Lawes is confident they won’t be needed.

Sam Burgess insists club allegiances have been put to one side as England go in search of World Cup success on home soil when they start the tournament against Fiji on Friday.

Wayne Rooney became England’s all-time top goalscorer last night, converting a penalty against Switzerland to register for the 50th time in internationals, moving past Sir Bobby Charlton’s 45-year-old benchmark.

England one-day international skipper Eoin Morgan is backing powerful opener Alex Hales to take his limited-overs form into the Test arena this winter.