With just 7 days to go, it’s our first major tournament as a community! The world cup itself started back in 1987 and is fairly new as far as world cups go, so we’re all still learning here (just like the french ticketing system)

So with this in mind here’s the draw. It has been 20 teams since 1999, and the format is a roller coaster of 4 groups of 5 teams, the top 2 going into the quarters. Simple (see Champions cup, this is really easy!). Straight knock out from here with the winner lifting the Web Ellis Cup named for the inventor of Rugby Football.

We open a week from now Friday 8th of September, 2015 BST with France vs New Zealand a juicy affair with both sides fancied to win this one. The rest of the schedule here but Rugby Kick Off my choice for upcoming fixtures, showing local times, TV broadcasters, and most recent results if you click on the match. And we finish with the final on 8pm BST, 28th of October, so it’s a long tournament. Injuries take their toll, squad depth is tested, red cards have very real consequences, and mods will need help too!

As a community we’ve got a prediction league with Kick Tipp. We’ve been doing weekend threads for warm-ups, I suspect we’ll do daily for the group stages, and dedicated match threads for knock outs. There may be a sledge thread. There may be Kick Tipp updates. There better be pictures from stadiums, pubs, and club houses. And if I find something worth giving away, I’ll buy a prize and we might do a community award for best contributions.

As we’re a week away, is anyone heading out to France? Who’s got plans for next weekend already? Anyone bought any merch yet? Predictions go in Kick Tipp!