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The ceremony kicks off (pun intended) with a young William Webb Ellis picking up and running with the ball during a football game. He runs past two workers (played by Prince Harry and Jonny Wilkinson), ''It will never catch on' quips 'Arry. The clip ends with the boy kicking the ball into Wembley Stadium. And boom firweworks, we are at Twickenham.

Legends from each country have been introduced. And repping NZ is Sean Fitzpatrick!

A big rugby ball is being pulled apart in the middle of the field, the kid playing William Webb Ellis runs on the field, and he climbs up a pole to grab...the William Webb Ellis trophy!

It's Prince Harry!

He's with Bernard Lapasset.

'We are ready. Game on,' says Prince Harry.

The stone blocks reveal the logos of Fiji and England.

Marks out of 10 for the opening ceremony Cam?

Pool A is easily the hardest pool in the tournament. Not only does it contain the hosts and a team ranked 9th in the world, it also has the pedigree and talents of a two-time winner of the World Cup and the team ranked second in the world (Australia) as well as the team ranked fifth in Wales. (There is also Uruguay but as well as they did to beat Russia over two legs and get here, a squad packed with amateurs should not cause the four aforementioned nations too much trouble.)

They also have Leone Nakarawa. Nakarawa, in case you didn’t know, is the lock who was locked up in military prison and was only let out after he led the Fijian army team to a play-off victory. He is also the man with the ability to break lines and offload like few others in his position.

Fiji also have Nemani Nadolo, the 127kg winger who stands 1.94 metres tall. There's no way Fiji can be painted as David v Goliath with ginormous men like Nadolo in their team.

The teams
England: 15 – Mike Brown; 14 – Anthony Watson, 13 – Jonathan Joseph, 12 – Brad Barritt, 11 – Jonny May; 10 – George Ford; 9 – Ben Youngs; 1 – Joe Marler, 2 – Tom Youngs, 3 – Dan Cole, 4 – Geoff Parling, 5 –Courtney Lawes, 6 –Tom Wood, 7 – Chris Robshaw, 8 – Ben Morgan.
Replacements: 16 – Rob Webber, 17 – Mako Vunipola, 18 – Kieran Brookes, 19 – Joe Launchbury, 20 – Billy Vunipola, 21 – Richard Wigglesworth, 22 – Owen Farrell, 23 – Sam Burgess.

Fiji: 15 – Metuisela Talebula; 14 – Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 – Vereniki Goneva, 12 – Gabiriele Lovobalavu, 11 – Nemani Nadolo; 10 – Ben Volavola, 9 – Nikola Matawalu; 1 – Campese Ma’afu, 2 – Sunia Koto, 3 – Manasa Saulo; 4 – Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 5 – Leone Nakarawa; 6 – Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 7 – Akapusi Qera, 8 – Sakiusa Masi Matadigo.
Replacements: 16 –Talemaitoga Tuapati, 17 – Peni Ravai, 18 – Isei Colati, 19 – Tevita Cavubati, 20 – Peceli Yato, 21 – Nemia Kenatale, 22 – Joshua Matavesi, 23 – Asaeli Tikoirotuma.

Herald rugby reporter Patrick McKendry at Twickenham: 'Pretty impressive opening ceremony I thought. Slight downer now it's tidy up time but show was short and sweet'.

What's that? You feel this blog is lacking in pre-match stats? All right then, try these on for size:

* These sides have met five times in Test rugby, with England winning by at least 13 points on each occasion.
* This will be the second time England have featured in the opening game of a World Cup after they played in the first game of the 1991 edition, losing on that occasion to New Zealand.
* England lost their first ever Rugby World Cup game in 1987 (v Australia) and their opening game in 1991 (v New Zealand) but have won their first fixture in each of the five World Cups since then.
* Fiji have won their opening game at the last two World Cups and have won four of their six openers in total.
* England have scored a try in each of their last five World Cup games, but have never managed a try in six consecutive games in the competition.
* England are on a run of seven straight victories at Twickenham, their best run of its kind since a run of 22 home wins between 1999 and 2003, with their last game of this run coming just prior to the 2003 World Cup in Australia which they eventually won.