From the touchline

A lighter look at what is happening at Rugby World Cup 2011.

The number

7 - Days to go before the start of Rugby World Cup 2011. Also the number of national team coaches (and one England manager) at RWC 2011 who have also played at a RWC. This is a record, beating the six who led teams in 2003.

He said it

"I had a little bit of an issue with a couple of the little half backs that got a little bit cold and ran inside, so I had to ask them if they want to be selected if it's raining and cold. I'm sure the woollen issue that we got yesterday might be used tomorrow, but we had a bit of a laugh about it."

- Japan coach John Kirwan (NZL) on the challenge presented to his charges by the weather after a rain storm during their first training session in New Zealand.

Mother tongue

Given the polyglot nature of some of the World Cup squads, you might think communication would prove a problem.

Russia's Australian-born second row Adam Byrnes has explained how teammate Vasily Artemyev translates for coaches Nikolay Nerush and Kingsley Jones (WAL).

"He is very good at it and I have told him that this could be his first of many World Cups," Byrnes, who spoke Russian at home as a child, writes on the Melbourne Rebels website.
"Long after he has finished playing, his interpreting skills will always be useful in the team environment."

Artemyev, who moved from Russia to Dublin as a teenager, will join Northampton after the World Cup.

Sorry old bean

England's Jonny Wilkinson had to pause and laugh in the middle of radio interviews on Friday as he was drowned out by the sounds of the coffee machine behind him grinding beans and frothing milk - teammate Mark Cueto could not wait to have his cappuccino.

Sheep crossing

The UK government is warning rugby fans to take particular care on New Zealand's roads during the World Cup, telling motorists to watch for wandering livestock.

The Foreign Office, as part of its "Be on the ball" campaign, has told fans from the British Isles to be on the alert as New Zealand, inhabited by 4.4 million people and 40 million sheep, has more than twice the number of road fatalities per 100,000 people as the UK.

Silky skills

Details of the opening ceremony revealed on Friday promise the watching world a prominent role for a yet-to-be-named New Zealand sporting legend, a spectacular display by 1,000 performers and costumes featuring 9.5km of silk.

Man of taste

England hooker Steve Thompson, a World Cup winner in 2003, has revealed how his eating habits changed drastically in subsequent years, during which he retired from playing before making a comeback and forcing his way into the 2011 squad.

Thompson, 33, says his diet when he took a coaching job in France in 2007 was: "Foie gras for breakfast with a bit of dessert wine just to wake me up. Steak with foie gras on top for lunch and a bit of fish at night to try to be a bit healthier. And wash it down with a couple of bottles of red wine."

Now he is on "egg white omelette, salad with chicken and fish for dinner ... and not enough wine".

Excess baggage

The heavyweight requirements of a modern rugby team are causing headaches for those ferrying the players and their baggage around New Zealand.

DHL, the official logistics company for Rugby World Cup 2011, allows four tonnes of freight a team, but few sides have kept to that amount, forcing the firm to order more trucks.
The unexpected extras include a scrum machine for England, a hyperbaric oxygen treatment chamber for Japan and 10,000 euros worth of coffee beans for France.

Baby Black

All Blacks flanker Jerome Kaino is a father for the second time, with wife Di delivering a baby boy on the eve of the World Cup.

The child was born in Auckland on Thursday and he and his mother are reported to be fit and healthy. The parents have not yet decided on a name.

Fan view

Ireland's players are urging their supporters back home to turn out in numbers at specially organised "Big Breakfast" events broadcasting their matches.

The Irish Rugby Football Union is encouraging local clubs to invite their communities into their clubhouses to boost the atmosphere.

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll said: "I know that the squad will be even more appreciative and boosted by the thought of people across Ireland getting up bleary-eyed to cheer us on in the World Cup."