The World's Cup: Welsh ghost busters

Welsh prop Samson Lee was the first to spot an apparition. Photo / Getty Images

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

GHOST BUSTERS

The jolly japers in the Welsh squad are having plenty of fun at their haunted hotel. For those not up with the play, room 1313 of the Oatlands Park resort has long been believed to be haunted, either by a ghostly female, a Tudor King or both. Prop Samson Lee was the first to spot an apparition and team-mate Dan Lydiate has also seen a bearded fat man sitting on the end of his bed. It all sounds like a bit of a laugh but, with a huge game against Australia coming up, fitness coach Paul Stridgeon is anxious his players don't lose too much sleep. "As support staff we'll do anything to get the players in the right condition," Stridgeon told Wales Online. "Spooning at night helps! If the ghost comes they can give us a call!"

GATLAND GUNS

Coach Warren Gatland is on the warpath after his Welsh outfit were publically reprimanded for breaching tournament rules by bringing in training squad players to assist with preparations ahead of the crucial match with England. World Rugby issued Wales an official tut-tut after nine players from outside its 31-man squad attended a training session. Gatland, according to Wales Online, isn't about to take the rebuke lying down and is demanding a public retraction. An email sighted by Wales Online sent from team manager Alan Phillips to Lindsay Molyneux, the team services pools manager at England Rugby 2015, clearly states nine players from outside the permitted squad of 31 would be attending a training session in London. Apparently it is okay to bring in extra players as long as officials are notified.

MIDLANDS HOSPITALITY

With brave Canada in town, the University of Leicester spotted the perfect chance to crank up the publicity about an exciting piece of work. Exactly 100 years ago the town was chocked full of Canadians, with 2500 battered servicemen returning from the frontlines of World War One to receive treatment at the 5th Northern General Hospital. The university's researchers have uncovered a bunch of first-hand accounts from Canadian servicemen about how they were treated by locals. "The historic accounts include stories of local women who brought newspapers, chocolates and other comforts to injured servicemen on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross."

DR MATHS

No meerkats or octopuses for the Irish Examiner when it comes to divining the result of a crucial pool match with France. "We've turned to a far more reliable psychic to find out the result of Ireland's game against France: maths," they said.

"Dr Maths himself, Steve Humble, has used probability theory - specifically the Poisson distribution - to work out what he thinks the result will be in Cardiff on Sunday."

Humble's calculations have Ireland winning 18-15 or 26-18. Maths isn't sure.

If you're wondering what on earth the Poisson distribuition is, it has nothing to do with fish.

It's a theory which was developed by French mathematician Simeon Poisson in 1837, and is used to find order in seemingly random events.

"It is used, for example, to help work out how many staff will be needed to work in a call centre at particular times in the day, or similarly to predict the size of queues at supermarkets checkouts," says Humble.

"Maths can't say absolutely for certain what the future will be, but it can suggest possible outcomes that could occur, giving the probability that these may happen."