Daniel Kemp

As some of you may be aware, I am a huge rugby enthusiast. When I was younger I played the game at a reasonable level. I’m English by birth and support the national team, although to be brutal about it, that has been hard on the eye in the last few years.

The Rugby World Cup, a competition that takes place every four years, is taking place in France as we speak. There are now just twenty countries left in four pools of five teams to contest the competition, but the unfairness of being fair has pitted some more evenly matched teams in the other groups than the group England has found itself. England has played three pool games and won three games. So far so good.

The competition began with France, a hugely well-supported side and a very good team at that, playing New Zealand, three times winners of the cup and whose national game and religion is the game of rugby. Only one winner was allowed, but two teams will qualify from this group for the knockout stages.

Last night saw the game of the competition so far. The world champions, South Africa against the number one-ranked team in the world Ireland. What a game!

Fantastic entertainment with Ireland finishing as the winner. I watched as a neutral and I wish I could watch that incredibly accurate and intense sort of game all through the tournament. (with England winning, of course)

Tonight there could be another magnificent game holding radical consequences for the losers-Wales against Australia. I hope it’s played as hard, but as fair as the Ireland/South Africa game was.

For England, there’s one more game with selection issues for the management to ponder, before the knockout stages of the quarter-finals where there’s no second chance. I hope the contest continues in the same spirit– a wonderful, tough game of sport.