Last night the opening ceremony and the opening game - England v Fiji. A great night and a really excellent start for the tournament overall. Anticipation is high indeed.
The England Fiji game was an engrossing watch. Both teams did well taking into account the occasion and the significance of it.
Fiji - a country of less than a million people - players all playing their club rugby elsewhere were their usual magnificent handful and a better organised one too. A live potential banana skin for England.
It is always an emotional time - watching through the camera as it goes up the line with close ups of players singing their national anthems - big men with tears in their eyes - so proud of the enormity of what they have achieved - representing their country on the greatest rugby stage of all. Humbling - magnificent emotional stuff.
There is controversy about the use of the TMO. It is welcome and needed in rugby I think. Rugby lends itself very well to its use in the way for instance football doesn't. The problem last night was the ref changed a try awarded decision - using the camera as an afterthought. That is not right. The other issue is the time it takes. Maybe there can be more emphasis on a quick decision but it does create drama and it does mean vital decisions are more likely to be accurate. Without TMO the Fijian try would have been given and the last England one - would probably have not been!
The first night of a 6 week rugby fest. So much to look forward to. Well done England - not perfect but a good start. We have a terrific squad - strong off the bench - we have a real chance.
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