Four hundred children and a crook in the field

It's that time again, which comes round every few years, when English people pretend to be interested in rugby as there's a possibility of winning something. Hours of fun can be had asking people wearing the shirts "remind me... is this union or league?"

As part of the exciting build-up to a world cup final in a sport most people won't give a second thought to for another three years, eleven months and three weeks, there's the exciting news that, if England win, Kenny Rogers has offered to do a private gig for them. But only if they win - presumably Rogers doesn't want to associate with a bunch of losers.

It's not quite as out-of-the-blue as it might seem - apparently, the rugby players have been singing The Gambler in the dressing rooms. One of the rugby players, called Matthew, was strumming it on his guitar, when other rugby players - possibly including men called Rory, Edward and, oh, I don't know, Curly or something - took the song up as something of an unofficial theme tune.

We know that somewhere in offices in London, at least six different music business impresarios are thinking "hey... what a great idea for a single..."