FINALLY, after all the wait, hoopla and hype the Rugby Union Wold Cup is upon us and joy is unconfined.

Twenty nations will be taking part in this four-yearly jamboree but there are probably no more than five potential winners of the Webb Ellis Cup.

In fact, during the 28-year history of the RWC there have only been only four winners of the trophy with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa winning twice and England the sole winner from the northern hemisphere.

That shortens the odds considerably on the eventual winners becoming the first side to win the trophy three times.

The other stark fact for current holders New Zealand to brood on is that no side has yet successfully defended the title, while the All Blacks have also never managed to win the tournament away from home.

That’s a lot of history against the No 1 side in the world, who until they won the 2011 tournament were labelled as World Cup chokers.

But can the men in black send off their peerless captain Richie McCaw and fly-half Dan Carter into retirement with yet more success?

That is a big ask but the 34-year-old McCaw is still a world-beater and may yet inspire his men to give him one last huzzah.

The Wallabies’ previous victories in the RWC were in England (1991) and Wales (1999) but the men from Down Under have hit form at a crucial time, becoming southern hemisphere champions.

Coach Michael Cheika has managed to turn around the Wallabies dire forward record and the days of them being pushed around in the scrum have long gone.

In their recent home victory over the All Blacks, forwards Michael Hooper and David Pocock were superb in the loose and managed to make McCaw look pedestrian.

Cheika has also selected players plying their trade overseas — and that means the inclusion of, among others, wing Drew Mitchell and gifted fly-half Matt Giteau.

The Wallabies are always a tough proposition in World Cup competition with their worst finish being knocked out in the quarter-finals by England in France 2007.

To get out of a tough group, Australia will be facing hosts England and Wales.

Although Wales will play the Wallabies at Twickenham, there should be plenty of Welsh support travelling along the M4.

The Dragon does not have a good record against the southern hemisphere heavyweights and may have to beat Australia to progress out of the group if they have already lost to England.

Coach Warren Gatland has already started his mind games to try and unsettle the English as he knows that his side’s best chance is to beat the old enemy.

Winning at Twickenham is something the Welsh have managed several times in recent years, although they comprehensively lost when the two sides met in this year’s Six Nations at the Millennium stadium.

Gatland’s team has lost two world-class players in full-back Leigh Halfpenny and scrum-half Rhys Webb. The loss of Halfpenny is especially serious as his goal-kicking from the halfway line onwards is deadly.

The worry for the Welsh is their squad’s lack of depth. The attritional nature of the World Cup means that teams either have to be very lucky with injuries or have top-class replacements.

The final warm-up game against Italy saw a dismal performance and it would be a major surprise to see Wales get anywhere near the semi-finals this time around.

Fellow Group A opponents are the hosts England, who will be hoping to ride home advantage at fortress Twickenham.

Somehow the hosts have managed to bag all their key matches at Twickenham and that will make it much more difficult for Australia and Wales.

England’s first outing is against Fiji tonight and coach Stuart Lancaster has named an unchanged team from the last match against Ireland.

Both Geoff Parling and Tom Wood were brought back into the pack and the team performed better against Ireland in the set piece and loose play.

England have some speedsters in their backline with wingers Jonny May and Anthony Watson.

Lancaster also now has real impact players on the bench to fling into matches, with Rugby League convert Sam Burgess beginning to repay the faith the coaching side have shown in him.

The redoubtable Vunipola brothers, Billy and Mako, will also be lurking on the bench waiting to take on tiring opponents.

England have appeared in three finals and fans will be hoping that home advantage will see them progress again. A semi-final spot would be a good result for an inexperienced and young side.

After a dismal Six Nations the French have managed to live up to their reputation of unpredictability by finding some good form in the recent round of friendlies, not least against England in Paris.

Les Bleus have a good record in the RWC, only once failing to get beyond the quarter finals.

They have been drawn in Group D with Ireland and Italy and topping the group will open the way to the semi-finals for them.

However, if they finish as runners up they will almost certainly face New Zealand in the quarters. That is a big test despite their good RWC form against the All Blacks.

They have lost three times in the final but past form suggests they will do well to get to the semis.

Ireland were looking good after last year’s autumn internationals against the southern hemisphere and a successful Six Nations but they have lost their last two matches.

Coach Joe Schmidt is a wily tactician and man-manager, and his team still contain some world-beating players in inspirational captain Paul O’Connor and fly-half Jonny Sexton.

The Irish are a good bet to reach the semi-finals for the first time if they can avoid the All Blacks in the quarter finals.
And what of the other two-time winners, South Africa?

They finished third in the recent southern hemisphere championship and managed to lose to Argentina at home for the first time, going down 37-25 in Durban.

But they are in one of the easier pools and should ease through to the quarter-finals, where they will meet the runner-up from one of Australia, England or Wales.

We can all have fun following our own favourite and speculating on who win but what is certain is that we will are in for a feast of rugby from the world’s best teams and players. I can’t wait.