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No adverts just yet England and Leicester Tigers lock Ben Kay, who fumbled an easy pass when the tryline beckoned in the Rugby World Cup Final, has been offered four year's free pizza by restaurant chain, Pizza Hut. After the game, Kay joked of his clanger: "After I'd dropped it I was thinking Pizza Hut would be on the phone and I'd be doing adverts for the rest of my life." Kay was referring to the likes of Tony Underwood and Mike Catt who featured in an advert with All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu after he pummelled them to the...

The All Blacks managed to salvage something from their disappointing 2003 Rugby World Cup campaign when they beat a sub-standard French team 40-13 at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney on Saturday - securing themselves third-place at the RWC. It was the most-often repeated statement before the game and it proved true, this useless third/fourth-place play-off contest is a game nobody wants. The French certainly looked disinterested, with the Kiwis' focus were more geared towards displaying their individual brilliance than their capabilities as a unit. But to their credit, the All Blacks were the more willing team on the day and...

Toutai Kefu's embarrassing outburst about English arrogance last week is just the latest in a series of extraordinary attacks by different sectors of the Australian rugby fraternity on the English and English rugby over the last few weeks. Eddie Jones has been chirping away with usual tripe, the Australian press' unique style of journalism (if you can call it that) was best represented by the Sydney Morning Herald's full page picture of Johnny Wilkinson with the caption "Is that all you have got?" and motor-mouth Stephen Larkham is a veritable rent-a-quote if anyone is looking for a few words to...

The USA departed Monday for the Rugby World Cup after a short domestic assembly focused on team building and logistics, with coach Tom Billups looking for a 'personal best' performance right from the start. The team assembled in the San Francisco Bay Area for a series of meetings and final preparations for the voyage to Brisbane. In contrast to many squads who have enjoyed lengthy training camps in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup, the part-time US squad members have been working their regular jobs since August's Pan American tournament and following individual strength and conditioning programs. On Sunday,...

Hats off to the United States. The Eagles have positioned themselves sweetly for a legitimate shot at success at next month’s Rugby World Cup. The USA came away from the recently concluded Pan-American tournament in Argentina with its best ever finish at the Pan-Ams and will be taking a winning momentum into Brisbane for its first-up RWC game against Fiji. After dropping its opening game to the world class Pumas, the USA ended up going 2-1 in Buenos Aires leaving Canada and Uruguay floundering in its wake. In total, the Eagles racked up 74 points for, while allowing 79 against,...