We’ve got World Cup fever here at Cordite Towers.  The big kick off is just 45 days away at the time of writing, and the build up starts here.  Once the tournament begins, Palla will be heading down under for three weeks with Ms Ovale and Little Ovale, and will be reporting regularly from various campsites throughout the country.  Egg Chaser will be keeping things together back in Ireland, and setting his alarm clock for 4am on a nightly basis (even for Georgia v Romania).

Over the next six weeks, we’ll be guiding you through the tournament on a group by group basis: we’ll have a look at each side’s prospects, we’ll highlight some players we think can have a big impact, and we’ll be monitoring the progress of the Tri Nations and Northern Hemisphere warm up games to see how the major contenders are shaping up.  Needless to say, we’ll be following the Ireland camp with an especially beady eye.  We’ll even offer some advice on managing the difficult kick-off times.  In fact we’ll be doing everything bar giving a history lesson on Maori culture.  Egg Chaser will be kicking things off with a look at the hosts, New Zealand in a matter of hours…