The World's Cup: Blog helps the rugby illiterate

Argentina wins a lineout over the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

Steve Deane scours global media for an offbeat look at rugby's biggest show.

STAGGERED JOURNEYS

Frustrated fans have been forced to queue aimlessly for hours while attending RWC2015 matches. Fans trying to head home from Twickenham by train following the opening match between England and Fiji were caught in a major snarl-up following a death on the tracks. In Wales, accessing the Millennium Stadium by train has been so fraught the Government has stepped in and told train companies to sort themselves out. First Great Western admitted to being surprised 43,000 people had headed into Cardiff for a match between Ireland and Canada. "Sorry rugby trains busy today, extra services running tonight. Queues likely, if you can, please stagger your return journeys," the company tweeted to its irate, immobile customers. Staggering home is not normally an issue for rugby fans, it's the standing still for three hours with no bar service that gets them.
Yesterday's match between Australia and Fiji was just as bad, with the rail commuters facing three-hour queues and motorways clogged. Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb has stepped in demanding train companies "fix this". The companies have responded that they have the capacity to move 10,000 passengers an hour out of the city. For a crowd of 43,000 - you do the maths.

And we thought North Harbour Stadium was bad.

BLAME BLOSSOMS

Japanese reaction to the Brave Blossoms' back-to-reality hammering by Scotland has been swift. What chance, really, did the plucky Blossoms have when fronting up again just four days after upsetting the Boks, asked The Japan Times? "Forced into a ridiculous four-day turnaround and with potential match winner Amanaki Leilei Mafi stretchered off in the 44th minute, Japan played bravely but were never able to repeat the magic of their historic win over South Africa on the opening weekend."

Congratulations Japan. You've just become Samoa. Now that's progress.

ROYAL WATCH

RWC2015 is fast becoming the tournament of moving singalongs.

A bunch of Welsh stars have been singing for Prince William, reports the BBC. "The squad belted out a traditional Welsh song called 'Down by the Sea', or 'Lawr Ar Lan y Môr' in Welsh. The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, who is also the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, was at the ceremony, and seemed to enjoy the performance.
Although the Duke joked that he was glad Wales "played rugby better than they sing". Comedy gold, Wills.

BLOGGER ME

A poster to the website Anglotopia (the website for anglophiles) has shown just how quickly rugby illiterate Yanks can pick up the game.

"There seems to be a lot of kicking the ball back and forth that I haven't quite wrapped my head around yet," wrote the poster, sounding a lot like your average Kiwi fan watching England play. Other noteworthy observations include: "One of my favourite parts to watch is the lineout. At the start of play, a team will lift one of their players up high into the air. That player catches the ball and then throws it to a teammate. I just think it's really fun to watch these big, burly guys lift each other up so high."

And: "It also made me chuckle to see people eating pork pies in the stands... definitely not something you see in the US"

Quite.

Read the full piece here.

GREAT DANES

RWC 2015 "won't be of massive interest to the Danish public", admits the Copenhagen Post. But that hasn't stopped the paper's expats publishing stuff its audience is almost certain not to read. "We will be rooting for Ireland, England, Scotland, the US, Canada, France and ... Uruguay, and when we can, we will be sneaking out to The Globe to take advantage of their English TV commentary courtesy of ITV and their current beer of the month: the Galway Hooker."