England in World Cup final today! No, really

When the England rugby team walks on to the turf at Twickenham to face New Zealand in the World Cup Final today it will be in front of a near-capacity crowd and TV cameras. But there will be no big sponsorship deals, no match-winning bonus and, in fact, no money at all for any of the star players.

Elsom's Wallabies leave Boks on rocks

Australia won an extraordinary Tri-Nations match in Bloemfontein yesterday. The Wallabies, who beat South Africa 41-39, scored five tries to three, gained revenge for last week's 44-31 defeat in Pretoria and secured second place in the tournament table. They will play New Zealand, the runaway winners, in the final match in Sydney next Saturday.

Chuter aims high in title defence

Leicester will wear nine stars across the back of their shirts at Northampton this afternoon: one for each of the Tigers' record number of league titles. A wag at Franklin's Gardens, which will be packed out for this juiciest of Premiership derbies, says the stars will be useful as grips for cleaning their opponents out of the breakdown. After all, as the old song goes, won't it be "same old Leicester, always cheating"? "The statistics tell a different story," says George Chuter, the England hooker entering his 11th season as a Tiger. "We've got a reputation of being cheats but the stats show that last year we were the least penalised team in the league."

David Flatman: Tiny feet? Just wait till I take my shirt off...

So it's back to the rugby treadmill once more. The same old quotes follow the same old questions at press sessions around the circuit. Every interviewee seems to think his side's opening fixture is as tough as it gets but still, somehow, feels confident of victory.

Ruck and Maul: Women stoop to conquer as popularity grows before Olympic debut

Their haka may be amazingly graceful but New Zealand's Black Ferns are posing an unmistakeable threat to England's hopes of winning today's Women's World Cup final in London. Inspired by the hot-stepping Carla Hohepa on the wing, the champions of the last three tournaments looked unstoppable in Thursday's 45-7 defeat of France in the semi-final. England, winners in 1994, brushed Australia aside 15-0 in the last four and after drawing crowds of 3,000 to pool matches at the University of Surrey, they are hoping for plenty of support at the 14,000-capacity Twickenham Stoop. Seven of the tournament's 11 referees are women, and the final will be handled by Australia's Sarah Corrigan. Mindful that both sexes will play Sevens when rugby rejoins the Olympics in 2016, the International Rugby Board are enthusiastic. It was different in 1991 when a rather ad hoc first Women's World Cup made a loss of £15,000 and organisers were thankful to the Rugby Football Union and their secretary, "Cuddly" Dudley Wood, for making up most of the shortfall.

Van Gisbergen keeps Wasps on level

There was a gala feel here yesterday, thanks to a record-breaking crowd for the double-header with which the London clubs open the Premiership season. But the sense of anticipation was diluted as Wasps and Harlequins ground almost to a halt in a nervy second half.

Ojo makes Sarries pay as push comes to shove

Draw no conclusions for the rest of the season from this error-strewn Aviva Premiership match. London Irish and last season's beaten finalists, Saracens, will play far better but the Irish were delighted with victory and a bonus point that was secured with the last move of the match.

Steenson's Chiefs are best in the west

With their soaring "Tomahawk Chop" chant rolling out of the stands and away over to Dartmoor, the kings of the Premiership's new frontier sent Gloucester back to Kingsholm to salve their bloodied scalps. Exeter Chiefs arrived in the top flight with an uproarious win in something approaching a cup-final atmosphere and though their stalwart coach, Rob Baxter, wisely restrained any notion of a lap of honour and declared his preference for apple cider over champagne, it was quite just that the promoted club's supporters in this small but happy part of England's west went wild. It is Leicester away next week, but that can wait.

Magners League round-up: Benvenuti try leaves Scarlets blushing

Benetton Treviso announced their arrival in the Magners League with a stunning 34-28 win over the Scarlets at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.

Munster overcome Italians

Despite a first-half scare from Magners League new-boys Aironi, Munster settled to claim a 33-17 win against the Italians on Saturday.