JEFF PROBYN
A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME

As England ramp up their preparation for this year’s Rugby World Cup, I can’t help thinking and remembering what is was like being involved in the first ever World Cup and all the negotiations it took before getting the agreement for it finally to go ahead.
There were a number of suggestions put forward as to the formation of a Rugby World Cup competition mostly by people from outside the game, but they were all turned down by the International Rugby Board (IRB, now World Rugby) even though Australia and New Zealand were very much in favour of crea...