Who will win in the England-v-Wales Rugby World Cup Match on 26th September 2015 at Twickenham Stadium, home to the Rugby history museum. The origins of Rugby are fairly apocryphal, but the general consensus is that it began in 1823 when Rugby school pupil William Webb Ellis, ‘with fine disregard for the rules of football’, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, originating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game’.

It’s a popular view, so much so that the international committee named the Rugby world cup the ‘William Webb Ellis Trophy’. And here we are again – slap bang in the middle of another World Cup season, eagerly anticipating the England –v- Wales meet on Sept 26^th at Twickenham.

WHY DO THE WELSH HATE THE ENGLISH IN RUGBY?

There’s a long history of feelings running high between the two countries –but it wasn’t always this way; at the first recorded meet in 1881, nobody mentioned cross-border animosity or bad feelings. Indeed, a report in the Times simply mentioned ‘a large number of persons assembled on the ground of Mr Richardson's field’. England won 8:0 and the report praised the English while giving an honourable mention to Wales and Pontypridd's Edward Treherne. It was all very civil.

Fast-forward to 1977 and it was very different. Captain Phil Bennett (who was normally quietly spoken), was heard motivating his team, saying, “"Look at what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our homes and live in them for a fortnight every year. What have they ever given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English. And that's who you're playing this afternoon, the English." Wales won 14-9.

Patriotic tensions have bubbled away – sometimes more to the fore than others – ever since. , and currently it’s hard to predict the outcome, as both sides have unusually high xxx

WHO WILL WIN THE ENGLAND-V-WALES RUGBY THIS YEAR?

Currently it’s anybody’s game – here’s what’s been happening so far:

Wales:

The loss of world-class player Leigh Halfpenny (who has undergone knee surgery) is no doubt a blow. The team are going to miss this world-class full-back. Eli Walker is replacing Halfpenny. Although he hasn’t played much at this level, he’s a natural full-back. On the attacking front, he may even be stronger than Halfpenny.

Rhyss Webb is another loss. Scrum half Webb incurred injury against Italy, and his absence will be noted as he’s been playing really well of late.

However – Wales should remind themselves that they made the semi-finals last time. That’s a hugely motivating factor.

England:

England’s team is very young this year (‘full of kids’ said one pundit). Sam Burgess is a hugely powerful defender, but only 26 years old. It remains to be seen how he performs on the day. The English team should have beaten Ireland, but inexperience showed during that match – will it happen again?

The fact the game is at Twickenham, in their home country is a big advantage, and may well prove to be the winning factor. But they are also massively bucking the trend in terms of experience, caps and world rankings, if they are going to win it.

Place your bets now… and book tickets here