World Cup gossip: England's leadership skills test with horses

England backroom staff and management spent a day leading horses around a field in a bid to improve leadership skills before the World Cup. (Mail)  Large numbers of England fans will back Wales now their team is out, according to a survey. (ITV) 
England head coach Stuart Lancaster, who was born in Penrith, says he will head for the Lake District after Saturday's final pool game with Uruguay. "I think I'll be somewhere with no internet access. Scafell Pike, St Bees Head, that's where I'll be," he said. (Independent)
  

England might be heading out of the World Cup but Danny Care says he cannot wait to represent his country against Uruguay

Former Wales wing Shane Williams says Warren Gatland's men can beat Australia despite suffering a string of "mentally destroying" defeats by the Wallabies. (South Wales Evening Post)  

 
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt wants to defeat France on Sunday so his players can have an extra day's break - and avoid world champions New Zealand. (Eurosport) 
A technical fault left hundreds of thousands of armchair rugby fans in New Zealand frustrated during their team's victory over Tonga. (New Zealand Herald) 


France prop Eddy Ben Arous has promised to "hunt down" Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton in the team's crunch Pool D decider on Sunday. (Daily Telegraph) 

Winger Anthony Watson is in need of some Manchester contacts as England move north for their final Pool A match against Uruguay

An anonymous insider at Sexton's former French club, Racing 92, has compared the 30-year-old to Sweden and Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, claiming he was prone to tantrums at his team-mates. (Midi Olympique via Daily Telegraph) 
England second row Joe Launchbury says he was embarrassed to be awarded man of the match in England's 33-13 defeat by Australia last weekend. (Daily Mail) 
Centre Matt Giteau says he hurt his ribs with a full-length swallow dive to score the final try in Australia's win. (Stuff) 
A gleeful Australian columnist has suggested England would have been better selecting Russian president Vladimir Putin at centre rather than league convert Sam Burgess in their match against Wales. (Sydney Morning Herald) 
England coach Stuart Lancaster says he has received "hundreds" of messages of support since the team's campaign-ending defeat by the Wallabies. (Guardian) 

Jamie Roberts shares a picture of him alongside Martyn Williams and Tom Shanklin on the night of his first Wales cap - a 30-15 win over Scotland in February 2008

Eddie O'Sullivan, who was in charge of a promising Ireland team that went out of the 2007 World Cup at the Pool stage, says Lancaster should be prepared for a "cacophony of criticism". (Times) 
Wales coach Warren Gatland says the Rugby Football Union could not afford to make him England coach if they wanted him to replace under-pressure Stuart Lancaster. (Wales Online) 
Builder Rhys Evans had to take down the Welsh flag he erected at his Bristol site after complaints from neighbours. "We have had to put up with years of oppression from the English. They have only had to put up with two weeks' worth and they have crumbled already!" said Evans. (Wales Online) 
Fans at St James' Park tonight could be treated to the pre-match sight of Tonga performing their Sipi Tau challenge at the same time as the All Blacks' Haka. The two teams performed simultaneously before their World Cup meeting in 2003, producing an electric atmosphere. (NZ Herald) 

Members of the England team have caught the attention of NFL scouts. (Mail) 

England's Sam Burgess, 26, has vowed to stick with rugby union until 2019 - but wants to play in the next World Cup as a blind-side flanker rather than a centre. (Times - subscription required) 
England flanker James Haskell had an angry row on Twitter with World Cup winner Neil Back - over his use of a selfie stick. (Times - subscription required) 
Fly-half George Ford says he has no hard feelings about being dropped to the bench for England's matches against Wales and Australia. (Guardian) 
Winger Chris Ashton - who was cut from England's pre-World Cup training squad in August - believes players will be reluctant to take part in the Rugby Football Union's tournament review. (Telegraph) 
Fly-half Danny Cipriani, 27, says he still dreams of playing for England, despite being left out of the World Cup squad and having a training-ground row with coach Mike Catt. (Sun - subscription required)
World Cup winner Steve Thompson does not believe Clive Woodward and Jonny Wilkinson would be the right coaching combination for England. (Mirror) 
Former New Zealand number eight Zinzan Brooke says England have had an "underlying fragility" since their 2003 World Cup win and invariably "crumple" under pressure. (Telegraph) 

Irish sporting legends including AP McCoy, Barry McGuigan and Sonia O'Sullivan were presented with shirts at a dinner with the Ireland World Cup squad

Fitness coach Paul Stridgeon lightened the mood in the Wales camp last week by turning up for a team gym session in the outfit worn by Scorch - the team's dragon mascot. (Mail) 
It seems the New Zealand public are losing confidence in their team's title defence. A Kiwi bookmaker has kept tabs on the wagers being placed and only 37% of bets were on an All Black triumph last week, down from a high of 56% in July 2014 and 43% on the eve of the tournament. (NZ Herald) 
South Africa prop Frans Malherbe is facing allegations he bit USA lock Matt Trouville during the Springboks' 64-0 win on Wednesday. (Daily Mail) 

Comedian Rob Brydon was a speaker at a team dinner in aid of the Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust

Ireland fly-half Paddy Jackson has turned wildlife programme-maker, filming sleeping team-mate Iain Henderson while providing a David Attenborough-style voiceover on the "two-metre long beast". (Instagram) 
International players past and present condemned the decision to ban Samoa wing Alesana Tuilagi for five weeks for striking an opponent with his knee. (Independent) 
Australian actor Bryan Brown - most famous for his role as Tom Cruise's character's boss in 1980s hit Cocktail - congratulated the Wallabies in the dressing room after their win over England on Saturday. (Sydney Morning Herald)