WORLD OF RUGBY: Brilliance is not enough in these days of forensic professionalism. In another era, Nick Abendanon would have lit up Test rugby, but he no longer fits the mould.

Ticket sales for the Rugby World Cup are close to hitting the 2million mark with 130 days remaining before England kick off against Fiji.. Sportsmail understands 1.9m out of 2.3m have been sold.

Former England star Jason Robinson believes that Stuart Lancaster should adhere to current selection policy for next week's World Cup training squad announcement.

RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie believes the sport is in a better place to capitalise on a Rugby World Cup boom than it was in 2003 when Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal created a surge in interest.

Martin Johnson has waded into the debate about England’s refusal to pick players based overseas with an emphatic endorsement of the RFU policy which has divided opinion.

England have been forced to ditch Manu Tuilagi from their World Cup plans after he pushed two female police officers in the chest as they tried to arrest him for grabbing a taxi driver's throat.

Dylan Hartley’s World Cup dream is over after the hooker was axed from Stuart Lancaster’s England squad and told he cannot be trusted to keep his cool in the high-stakes matches.

Up to 4.4 million of Britain’s workforce of 31million might skip work in the autumn to watch the Rugby World Cup, according to jobs website CV-Library.

Australia will play Italy, Fiji and Scotland in Group B while New Zealand face Lebanon, Jamaica and Ireland in Group C. Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Wales and Cook Islands make up Group D.

Björnsson  - who is best known for playing 'The Mountain' on the hit HBO series - performed the deadlift in an empty Reykjavík gym due to coronavirus restrictions on large gatherings.

Centenarian Fredie Blom was born on May 8, 1904, in Adelaide near the Great Winterberg mountain range of South Africa's Eastern Cape province. He celebrated his 116th yesterday.

Massachusetts couple David, 102, and Muriel, 97, Cohen died within hours of each other Friday after 78 years of marriage.

Diego Maradona and Argentina managed to reach the final against West Germany at that edition of the tournament but went on to lose the clash 1-0, having two men sent off in the process.

The Juventus striker, 32, garnered heavy criticism for his performance on football's biggest stage as the Argentine missed huge chances as Germany ran out 1-0 winners in the 2014 World Cup final.

The 20-year-old captioned the 12-second video: 'just crashed a wedding at disney world' He walked hand-in-hand with a young bride as they entered the reception hall to his track Old Town Road.

The 31-year-old artist released Oh, What A World 2.0: Earth Day Edition as it will benefit the World Wildlife Fund. The Space Cowboy singer took to Instagram to share a clip with message.

This weekend was stacked full of action, drama an incident and the World Cup is already gathering momentum. Here, Sportsmail rounds up some of the major talking points.

Full-back Kini Murimurivalu had just scored a try to extend Fiji's lead to 21-12 against the Wallabies, when O'Keeffe extends his right arm and offers a 'low-five' to the Fijian.

The highest-profile blunder has been Ben O'Keeffe's failure to punish Australia wing Reece Hodge for a shoulder-led, no-arms tackle to the head of Fiji's Peceli Yato in Sapporo on Saturday.

NIK SIMON IN KOBE: As one of 10 changes to Jones' side, Cokanasiga will live out his dream at the Kobe Misaki Stadium, just four years after being a mascot dressed up as a Fijian warrior.

WILL KELLEHER IN JAPAN: Their team is largely made up of semi-professional players yet they stunned the fancied Flying Fijians in Kamaishi amid emotional scenes.

WILL KELLEHER IN TOKYO: Reece Hodge has been banned for all of Australia's remaining pool matches at the World Cup after a disciplinary panel agreed he should have been sent off against Fiji.

WILL KELLEHER IN OTSU: Dan Biggar will be fit to face Fiji in Wales' next World Cup match after he was knocked out while saving a try in the win over Australia.

Wales have only made the last four twice, in 1987 and 2011, but defence coach Edwards is setting bar high after wins against Georgia and Australia and group games against Fiji and Uruguay left.

WILL KELLEHER IN OTSU: Warren Gatland sent out a rallying cry to Wales ahead of their upcoming match against Fiji - win the World Cup pool and we will be mentally stronger.

WILL KELLEHER IN OTSU EXCLUSIVE: Sam Matavesi is the Fijian hooker with the Cornish accent who now is ready for a shot at Wales at the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

WILL KELLEHER IN BEPPU: Wales have swapped in two back-rowers for their match against Fiji at the World Cup, with Davies and Moriarty starting ahead of Tipuric and Wainwright.

Wales are out to stop a Fijian fiesta on Wednesday - playing the role of party poopers in order to seal their knockout spot at the World Cup.

Ben Volavola's short stint with the New South Wales Waratahs came to and end in 2015, as he now looks to bring the Fijian team victory in the Rugby World Cup.

Wales secured their World Cup quarter-final place with an incredible victory over Fiji in their Pool C clash at Oita Stadium.

The Countdown star, 58, looked nothing short of sensational as she displayed her hourglass physique in a form-fitting Welsh jersey on Wednesday.

The Rugby World Cup is now at its halfway stage at the end of week three with the knockout stages starting to take shape. Here, Sportsmail selects its team of week three from 10 matches.

SCRUM'S THE WORD: Dan Biggar was in high spirits after Wales' win over Fiji despite suffering a second consecutive concussion - giving away both his match socks and shorts to Japanese fans.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: England will make any numerical advantage count and Owen Farrell will not endure another middling kicking afternoon like he did against Argentina.

WILL KELLEHER IN KUMAMOTO: The 31-year-old centre and star man in the Welsh side, knocked his knee when setting up Josh Adams' hat-trick try against Fiji.

Wales face Uruguay in their final World Cup pool stage clash knowing a win would seal top spot and book a quarter-final tie against France.

WILL KELLEHER IN BEPPU: The World Cup's top try-scorer, Wales' Josh Adams, is in record-hunting mood having fired his side into the quarter-finals.

The 27-year-old has now returned to England after his side's pool stage exit from the tournament in Japan but has devastatingly had shirts, medals and caps taken from his car in London.

CHRIS FOY IN TOKYO: Joe Cokanasiga has been nominated for World Rugby's Breakthrough Player of the Year award -at the end of what has been a personally frustrating World Cup.

As seen time and again, the coronavirus epidemic is effecting every facet of daily life, and the same goes for celebrities as well.

Angelina Jolie has lent her support to the new BBC My World: Coronavirus content designed to educate young people about the pandemic.

As reported by Sportsmail last month, Jones targeted 47-year-old South African Proudfoot after he masterminded the Boks' set-piece demolition of England in Yokohama on November 2.

The 20-year-old demonstrated that he had made another great stride after breaking his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.18m at the Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow on Saturday.

Two hundred heads of state and tens of thousands of delegates will gather for the Conference of the Parties summit at the Scottish Event Campus (pictured) in November.

Sonny Bill Williams made an instant impact as New Zealand opened their World Cup defence with victory against Argentina in front of 90,000 at Wembley, but says there is plenty of work to do.

It is scenes like this that sum up the magical quality of sport. Moments after making history with New Zealand by retaining the World Cup, Sonny Bill Williams gave his medal to a young supporter.

New Zealand star Sonny Bill Williams has been praised after gifting his coveted Rugby World Cup medal to a young fan who was tackled by a heavy handed security guard when he invaded the pitch.

After wowing the world of sport with his incredible gesture to a young fan, New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams has been rewarded by World Rugby with a new medal.

Young supporter Charlie Lines, 14, was tackled by security before Sonny Bill Williams gave his Rugby World Cup winners medal to him after he had burst onto the field after Saturday's win.

The lucky fan who was handed a medal by All Black ace Sonny Bill Williams after running onto the field has been reunited with the centre ahead of the squad's return to New Zealand.