Rugby World Cup

Samoan-born Tuilagi is among a number of players with overseas heritage who are looking to repeat the heroics of Martin Johnson’s 2003 Webb Ellis Trophy winners by sweeping all before them in Japan.

Also represented to varying degrees are Fiji, Tonga, Nigeria and the United States, while Lewis Ludlam’s background is a mix of Guyanese, Palestinian and Egyptian. “I definitely think it helps. There’s a lot of different backgrounds in the team,” Tuilagi said.

The World Cup bolter profited from Ben Te’o’s shock exclusion from Eddie Jones’ squad for Japan 2019 to claim one of the four centre spots, his ability to cover all three midfield positions adding to his value.

But prior to this summer’s series of warm-up matches, the little-heralded 29-year-old had won only four caps and three of those came as a replacement.

As a teenager he was cut from the Saracens academy, galvanising him to travel to New Zealand in the hope that the most thorough rugby education possible would realise his ambition of becoming a professional.

Twice before have Fiji progressed to the knockout rounds of rugby’s showpiece event, first in the inaugural tournament in 1987, before again making the quarter-finals in the 2007 edition. There were no such celebrations four years ago in England, however, as John McKee’s side picked up just one win and finished fourth in their pool, a pool that is not too different to the one they face in Japan over the next month.

The Fijian born quartet of Isi Naisarani, Samu Kerevi. Marika Koroibete and Tevita Kuridrani are  likely to be in the Wallabies team against Fiji a the Sapporo Dome on September 21 and Nakarawa recognises it could be an unwanted distraction.

However, the Racing 92 lock who won a  Sevens gold medal at the Rio Olympics, told the FijiSun: “Other Fijians play for other countries for their own personal reasons. We don’t want to think or are bothered about them. We want to focus on what we can do and tasked to achieve at the World Cup.

The Scarlets number 10 suffered a third concussion in 12 months during Wales’ 19-10 defeat against Ireland in Dublin.

He went off midway through the first half following an attempted tackle on Ireland back-row forward CJ Stander.

It was Patchell’s first Test start since June last year when he starred with a 20-point haul against Argentina in Santa Fe.

He is one of two fly-halves in Wales head coach Warren Gatland’s 31-man squad for Japan, having edged out Jarrod Evans to secure a place alongside Dan Biggar.

Australia wrapped up their pre-World Cup Test campaign with a 34-15 win over Samoa in Sydney on Saturday.

A good first-half display, which was rewarded with a 22-3 halftime lead, was offset by an unconvincing second-half performance, with Samoa scoring the first 12 points, before two late tries pushed the home side clear.

Cheika said the game had been a really good hit out for the Wallabies, who now have a 3-2 record this year.

The Dark Blues round off their warm-up schedule against the Lelos at Murrayfield on Friday night before jetting out for Japan first thing on Monday morning.

Having beaten France at home and then thumped the Georgians in Tbilisi last week, Townsend is desperate to keep the Scots’ momentum building ahead of their tournament opener with Ireland on September 22.

Laumape failed to make the four-man midfield chosen by All Blacks coach Steve Hansen last month, which includes two-time World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, Jack Goodhue and Anton Lienert-Brown.

Despite 108-cap veteran Owen Franks also missing out on the squad, the reaction to Laumape’s omission caused arguably the biggest stir on social media.

The Hurricanes centre hasn’t spoken to media since the squad announcement but has since posted to his Instagram.

The former England fly-half believes the class of 2019 boasts a back line full of rare-breed talents that can strike fear into opponents in Japan. England will launch their World Cup bid against Tonga on September 22, with former Newcastle and Toulon fly-half Wilkinson backing Jones’ men to peak at the right time.

“The momentum is rolling, they are peaking,” Wilkinson said. “I’d definitely like to think they can win it. What’s impressed me most is that every time they get a chance to regroup they always come back stronger.

Forwards Josh Strauss, Matt Fagerson and Magnus Bradbury all missed out but NZ-born Thomson was selected due to his ability to slot into the second row if necessary.

Thomson, who made six appearances for the Māori All Blacks between 2013 and 2015, left the Hurricanes in 2018 to play for Welsh club Scarlets in the Pro14 competition.