20 nations primed for marathon

All 20 teams were in place yesterday primed to get the seventh World Cup underway, with New Zealand hosting rugby’s showpiece event for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1987.

The 30-strong squads were spread out from sunny Whangarei in the far north of the North Island to chilly Invercargill 1,290 kilometres (800 miles) away at the bottom of the South Island, where Scotland arrived for their match against Romania tomorrow.

But before that will be today’s hugely anticipated World Cup opener in Auckland’s enlarged and refurbished Eden Park, pitting the All Blacks against Pacific islanders Tonga.

That will be the first of 48 games that will stretch the teams to their physical and psychological limits up until the final in Auckland on October 23.

Both teams tested the Eden Park turf yesterday afternoon in the traditional eve-of-match “Captain’s Run” after which skipper Richie McCaw, an idol in rugby-obsessed New Zealand, warned the Tongans would be no push-over.

“You’d be a mug if you haven’t learned in the four years since then,” McCaw said, referring to the shocking quarter-final defeat to France four years ago when, like now, New Zealand were strong favourites to lift the trophy.

“I’ve been involved in two (World Cups) where we didn’t achieve what we were after and the shock sits in the back of your mind.”

The anticipation in Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, was palpable with All Blacks and New Zealand flags draped over many houses and fluttering from car windows.

Groups of rugby fans from as far afield as France, Britain and Australia were seen filling up the restaurants and bars down by Auckland’s harbour waterfront.

They also had the prospect of witnessing an impromptu haka warrior dance pulled off by a 54-strong group of young Maori men who will perform at today’s opening ceremony.

Their “flash mob” performances in the city have already been a huge hit on YouTube and their leader Tapeta Wehi said they are planning more swoops.

“I used to watch the flash mobs in the airports and I always thought it was pretty cool, the dance and the choreography,” he said.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome to do a haka flash mob? All these Maori boys, they’ve all done haka before so it wasn’t hard to organise.”

England supporters were gathering in Dunedin on the South Island where they will play Argentina tomorrow, while their counterparts from Wales and South Africa mingled in the capital city of Wellington ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster.

Tomorrow’s other openers see Fiji take on Namibia in Rotorua with France taking on Japan in Auckland’s North Harbour stadium.

On Sunday, there is also Australia against Italy in Auckland and Ireland against the United States in New Plymouth.

A minute’s silence will be observed in that match and players will wear black armbands to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States.

“Obviously 9/11 is at the front of their minds, so it will be emotional,” said US coach Eddie O’Sullivan, who was in charge of Ireland four years ago.

“We’ve spoken about it already, and we’ll have a minute’s silence and be wearing black armbands. It will be nice, especially with the guys being away from home.”

Pool A: Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, Tonga.
Pool B: Argentina, England, Georgia, Romania, Scotland.
Pool C: Australia, Ireland, Italy, Russia, US.
Pool D: Fiji, Namibia, Samoa, South Africa, Wales.