Martin Johnson talks through England’s team selection for the big game and we preview the match with full back Ben Foden and number eight James Haskell.

We’re also with former England boss Andy Robinson, who sizes up the task facing his men on Saturday at Eden Park.

Elsewhere our roving reporter Nick Heath catches up with England’s travelling fans in the aftermath of the 67-3 win over Romania.

There’s an England v Scotland flavour back home, where Josh Lewsey and Kenny Logan announce their participation in December’s Heroes Rugby Challenge at Twickenham Stadium.

And we meet Gavin Cattle, the captain of the Cornish Pirates side who lead the race at the top of the RFU Championship after last weekend’s big win over Leeds Carnegie.

Will James (Gloucester Rugby) has been cited for striking an opponent in the Aviva Premiership match against Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens on September 4.

Both cases will be heard by an RFU disciplinary panel at the Reading South Holiday Inn on Tuesday, September 13.

The panel is comprised of John Doubleday (chairman), Dan White and Mike Curling.

The London Irish wing, who makes his first appearance at this level, will replace Greg Barden, who returns home to play for the Royal Navy.

Watson, 19, has played for England’s Under 20 side and appeared at last year’s IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina.

He should be suited to this weekend’s playing surface at the Adelaide Oval, which is regarded as the quickest pitch on the HSBC Sevens World Series circuit.

"Marcus has fitted in really well and looked very sharp in training," said England head coach Ben Ryan.

"He makes his debut for us on a pitch that should really suit him and adds to the options among our outside backs alongside the likes of Dan Caprice, Dan Norton and Mathew Turner."

England have been edged into second place in the HSBC Sevens World Series after being beaten 29-17 by New Zealand in the final of last weekend’s Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens.

But there are three tournaments remaining in which they can regain top spot and a first ever title with Adelaide followed bythe Emirates Airline London Sevens (May 21-22) and the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens (May 28-29).

England face Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Argentina on Saturday in Adelaide with the group winners likely to play Kenya or Wales in Sunday’s quarter finals.

You can watch the England Sevens team in action and join the beach party on May 21 and 22 at Twickenham Stadium in the Emirates Airline London Sevens, the penultimate leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series. Tickets are available from £15 via rfu.com/londonsevens

England Squad: John Brake England Sevens), Dan Caprice (England Sevens), Chris Cracknell (England Sevens), Ben Gollings (England Sevens), Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins), Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby), Mark Odejobi (Esher and Brunel Univ), Tom Powell (England Sevens), James Rodwell (England Sevens), Nick Royle (England Sevens), Mathew Turner (England Sevens), Marcus Watson (London Irish).

HSBC Sevens World Series rankings: 1 New Zealand 110pts, 2 England 105, 3 Fiji 84, 4 Samoa 84, 5 South Africa 72, 6 Australia 46.

John Steele CE of RFU

John Steele took up the top job in English rugby this week as the RFU’s new Chief Executive and spelled out his vision for the long-term future of the game.

The former Northampton Saints fly half and Heineken Cup winning coach joins from UK Sport after overseeing the development of Britain’s Olympic teams and will bring that know-how back into rugby.

At the core is how England will exploit the opportunities generated by hosting Rugby World Cup 2015.

“There are some clear parallels from the Olympics. First how do we put on a great show and how is the investment we put into the event going to help our sport and our game,” said Steele. “The Rugby World Cup in 2015 presents a real opportunity for us to grow the game in all sorts of areas. It’s an event that can really drive positive change.”

The limited edition England shirt from Nike will be worn against Wales

England and their shirt sponsor Nike are rolling back the years, with the squad taking on Wales in Twickenham’s Centenary Match on Saturday February 6 sporting a limited edition, traditional look jersey to commemorate a century since the two nations’ first encounter at HQ.

In the original match on January 15, 1910 England emerged the victors 11-6 and the pearl white shirt was inspired by the one worn by that winning team. The 2010 team will run out in the iconic jersey featuring authentic detailing and a stunning embroidered rose emulating that on the 1910 kit. Nike technology remains at the heart of the jersey with dri fit a feature and gripper patter on the chest to improve performance.

A replica shirt is available from today (January 5) together with a polo shirt, T shirt and limited edition centenary jacket. These are available at the Rugby Store at Twickenham Stadium and York Street, Twickenham and also online at rfu.direct.com.

Said Andy Ward, RFU Head of Retail, “This shirt celebrates 100 years of Twickenham Stadium and takes its inspiration from the shirt worn a century ago, whilst ensuring the players still have the performance they expect from a Nike shirt. The replica shirts are limited in supply and we expect there will be a big demand for them from England fans.”

Premier Rugby and ESPN have agreed a three year contract for exclusive live rights to 43 matches per season from the Guinness Premiership, beginning next season and running through to the 2012-2013 season, including exclusive live coverage of the Guinness Premiership Final and one of the two semi-final matches. The agreement also provides highlight rights for use on ESPN digital media such as ESPNScrum.com.

Jon Varney, Commercial Director of Premier Rugby said, “This deal with ESPN secures a partnership with one of the world’s leading broadcasters, who become yet another blue chip supporter of club rugby in England.

“Starting next season, our new television deals mean we have doubled the number of live televised Premiership matches, which will further raise the profile of the sport in the UK and overseas and will allow our clubs and sponsors to derive even greater exposure and value. It also means supporters have more chance to see their team on live television.

“ESPN are renowned for their innovation and we are all genuinely excited about the opportunity of working with them to drive value in both our businesses.”

Added Jeroen Oerlemans, Vice President, TV Channels Europe, Middle East and Africa said: “The Guinness Premiership is among the very best UK sports competitions, with a passionate fan base and top quality competition. We’re thrilled to add it to our programming schedule and know that it will deliver great value for fans, advertisers and our partners.”

The world’s most competitive rugby union competition, the Guinness Premiership is the top division for club competition in England. From its beginnings as the Allied Dunbar Premiership in 1998, the league has established itself as a top global rugby union league and evolved into its current format with relegation to and promotion from the second-tier Championship. It features the 12 leading clubs in the country. Its regular season runs from September to May and comprises 22 rounds of matches. The teams play each other on a home and away basis during the regular season with the top four sides qualifying for the semi-final. The top two sides are guaranteed home advantage in the last four with the final staged at Twickenham Stadium.

The agreement adds to ESPN’s coverage of rugby in the UK, where it also delivers live coverage of French Top 14 Orange Rugby. ESPN also recently announced an agreement to show archive matches and footage from each of the six Rugby World Cup tournaments to date on ESPN Classic in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. The content will be featured on the channel in the coming months and will continue in the run-up to Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand, and beyond.

The Guinness Premiership joins an ESPN programming lineup that is rich in top-quality, exclusive sports. Launched in August, ESPN features top live football from around the world (Barclays Premier League, FA Cup, Clydesdale Bank Premier League, UEFA Europa League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Liga, German Bundesliga, Dutch Eredivisie, Portuguese Liga, Russian Premier League and MLS) as well as UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship, Top 14 Orange rugby, Australian Rules Football (AFL), NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball and more.

The discussions between Mr Rossborough and his advisors and RFU Chief Executive Francis Baron, RFU Management Board Chairman Martyn Thomas and RFU Company Secretary Karena Vleck were productive and will be ongoing.

However, the RFU has yet to hear from Andrew Green further to his statement about his intent to put Coventry Rugby Football Club Limited into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation which is not proving helpful.

The move came after the West Midlands club received a winding-up order from the Inland Revenue because of an outstanding tax bill believed to be around £400,000.

Players were ordered not to turn up for training on Tuesday and directors were told to lock up the Butts Park Arena ground, which is not owned by the club, with all staff being sent home.

In addition the RFU has not heard from, nor been made aware of, any legal advisors being appointed to complete the liquidation process and so, at the current time, the legal status of the club remains unclear.

It is the current view of the RFU that until legally confirmed otherwise the club continues to trade and is obligated to play its game against Bedford Blues on Friday night.

The club’s players have vowed to play on if a deal can be sorted out. Coventry, now the third Championship club to face a financial crisis this season following the problems at London Welsh and Birmingham and Solihull, are due to play Bedford on Friday night. If the club fail to fulfill the fixture, they could face expulsion from the RFU.

The players have agreed to play the game and the support is being offered by Coventry City Council. The offer by the Ricoh Arena and its shareholders, Coventry City Council and the Alan Edward Higgs Charity, to host the Bedford Blues game, was also welcomed and it is hoped they will continue to be so supportive until the situation is resolved.

Francis Baron said: “We are very keen to do whatever we can to maintain rugby in Coventry where there is a great history and tradition. We are hopeful that Peter and other interested parties can put in place a plan of action that assures the legal status of the club and can deliver long term certainty to the club. We will be working with Peter to help him where we can and are in dialogue with the other Championship clubs to ensure we maintain the integrity of the league.”

Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe launches the Women's Rugby World Cup 2010

England’s Women will head into next year’s World Cup with a historic win over the Black Ferns and a ringing endorsement for rugby from Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe.

Catherine Spencer led her team to a 10-3 win in front of 12,500 at Twickenham Stadium and was back at Twickenham Stadium 48 hours later to launch the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010.

Also in the cast was Sutcliffe who told the RFU Podcast: “We are trying to make sure that we can attract world class events and the World Cup is a significant event.

“What we want is for that to inspire young women and girls into rugby. We are already pleased with the increasing participation figures for women’s rugby (35 per cent percent growth) and we believe that a tournament of this nature will help that continue.

“There’s been great thought gone into the event so yes, we will stage a wonderful tournament of rugby, but behind that there will be a legacy about how we increase people’s social and education skills and health benefits by making sure there are programmes around the competition.”

Spencer meanwhile is putting behind her the euphoria of her player of the match winning contributioin for a first victory over New Zealand in eight years to focus on the challenge in South West London next August.

We hear from Spencer as well as:

* Martyn Thomas – on hosting two Rugby World Cups in a decade of sport

* Rob Andrew – on England’s Investec Challenge series

* Dan Vickerman and Dan Rosen – of Cambridge and Oxford universities ahead of the December 10 Nomura Varsity match at Twickenham

Listen to the RFU Podcast here

Extensive flood damage to a bridge in the Feltham area means no direct train services are currently running between Feltham and Twickenham.

As a result, special arrangements have been put in place for rugby fans travelling to the match on Saturday 21 November 2009.

Customers travelling from London Waterloo

Eight trains per hour will run direct from London Waterloo to Twickenham. However, passengers should be aware that these trains are likely to be extremely busy and are advised to allow additional time to get to and from the game.

Customers travelling from Reading and the West Country

Customers are advised where possible to travel on First Great Western services via Reading to London Paddington. From Paddington take London Underground services to London Waterloo (Bakerloo line) or Richmond Station (District line). South West Trains tickets will be accepted on First Great Western services at no additional cost.

Customers travelling from stations west of Feltham on South West Trains services

All South West Trains services from Reading will terminate at Feltham Station. It is not possible to convey passengers direct to Twickenham by bus due to road closures in the Twickenham area, so arrangements are being made to transfer customers by bus from Feltham to Kempton Park Station. For two hours before the game and for two hours after the game four trains per hour will run direct from Kempton Park to Twickenham. Outwith those times there will be two trains per hour running from Kempton Park to Twickenham. Please note that buses and trains are likely to be extremely busy.

Passengers are advised to allow at least an extra hour for their journey

South West Trains Managing Director Andy Pitt said: “We are aware that a significant number of people will be traveling to the rugby international at Twickenham and we are working hard to try and minimize any inconvenience caused by the impact of the extensive bridge damage on our services. We would like to apologise to fans for the extra time it will take to get to and from the game and we would like to thank them in advance for their patience.”

Full details of the alternative travel arrangements are available on the South West Trains website at www.southwesttrains.co.uk

London Wasps lock Simon Shaw, flanker Joe Worsley and Biarritz centre Ayoola Erinle come into the starting line-up and there is a positional switch at full back where Mark Cueto trades places with Ugo Monye.

Shaw takes over from Louis Deacon and wins his 53rd cap at the age of 36, former Wasps and Leicester centre Erinle makes his first start in place of Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints) and experienced Wasps flanker Worsley replaces Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers) in the back row.

Deacon, Croft and Geraghty are all named on the bench with Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks) coming into the 22 for the first time this autumn.

England team

• 15 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
• 14 Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
• 13 Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
• 12 Ayoola Erinle (Biarritz)
• 11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
• 10 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
• 9 Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
• 1 Tim Payne (London Wasps)
• 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
• 3 Duncan Bell (Bath Rugby)
• 4 Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
• 5 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, captain)
• 6 Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
• 7 Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers)
• 8 James Haskell (Stade Francais)

Replacements

• 16 Steve Thompson (Brive)
• 17 David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
• 18 Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
• 19 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
• 20 Danny Care (Harlequins)
• 21 Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints)
• 22 Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)

England Women name team to face NZ

England Women have named their starting line-up for Saturday’s Investec Challenge Double Header against world champions New Zealand, kick-off 445pm at Twickenham Stadium.

England Head Coach Gary Street has brought in Richmond centre Rachael Burford to the starting line-up with Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt moving to full back. Saracens’ Charlotte Barras also moves to the wing.

RBS 6 Nations champions England head into the match looking to avenge their 16-3 defeat to the Black Ferns last Saturday, and secure an all important win against the world champions just nine months before the Rugby World Cup kicks-off in London.

Street said: “We have made some changes to freshen up our midfield, and bring something new to the table for this final clash against New Zealand. We learned some important lessons last week, and we know we need to be more disciplined and more effective in everything we do this Saturday. If we do that then we know we have the potential to win this game.

“Playing at Twickenham stadium is a massive opportunity for us to show how good this side is, and how skilful women’s rugby is. Certainly being at home for this crucial match is going to give us that extra five percent on the pitch. We are relishing this opportunity.”

England are without six first choice players for the autumn series with Team Northumbria’s Rochelle Clark (hand) and Katy Storie (back), Lichfield’s Sarah Hunter (arm) and Sarah Beale (back), Worcester’s Karen Jones (knee) and Danielle Waterman (acl) all sidelined with injuries.

Entry to the stadium is free at 4:15pm.

England Team

• 15 Emily Scarratt Lichfield
• 14 Katherine Merchant Worcester
• 13 Claire Allan Richmond
• 12 Rachael Burford Richmond
• 11 Charlotte Barras Saracens
• 10 Katy Mclean (VC) Darlington Mowden Park Sharks
• 9 Amy Turner Richmond
• 1 Claire Purdy Wasps
• 2 Amy Garnett Saracens
• 3 Sophie Hemming Bristol
• 4 Rebecca Essex Richmond
• 5 Joanna McGilchrist Wasps
• 6 Heather Fisher Worcester
• 7 Margaret Alphonsi Saracens
• 8 Catherine Spencer (C) Bristol

Replacements:

• 16 Sam Reeve Worcester
• 17 Rosemarie Crowley Lichfield
• 18 Tamara Taylor Darlington Mowden Park Sharks
• 19 Jane Leonard Team Northumbria / Army
• 20 Georgina Rozario Bristol
• 21 Alice Richardson Richmond
• 22 Fiona Pocock Richmond