Rugby World Cup live stream: How to watch Japan vs Russia online and on TV
The tournament kicks off in earnest on Friday with the opening ceremony
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The 2019 Rugby World Cup begins today.
The tournament begins in Tokyo with hosts Japan taking on Russia in the opening game of Group A.
That comes after the opening ceremony, however, which promises to be a celebratory affair as ever and will surely come with one or two surprises too.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the big kick-off:
When does the tournament start?
The traditional tournament curtain-raiser is the opening ceremony, which is set to begin at about 10.30am on Friday 20 September.
The opening match follows the opening ceremony, with hosts Japan opening the tournament against Russia.
The match will start at 11:45 BST.
Where can I watch in the UK?
You can watch each game on ITV, while Indy Sport will have you covered with live blogs if you're on the move or at your desk. You can also stream the game on mobile devices and on your computer via the ITV website.
When will England begin their pursuit of the Webb Ellis trophy?
England kick off their Pool C fixtures against Tonga.
The game will take place on September 22 at 11:15 BST.
Who is playing and what are the pools?
There are 20 teams competing in Japan and they are divided into four pools, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals.
Pool A: Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Russia, Samoa
Pool B: New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Namibia, Canada
Pool C: England, France, Argentina, United States, Tonga
Pool D: Australia, Wales, Georgia, Fiji, Uruguay
The favourites
New Zealand 5/4
South Africa 4/1
England 4/1
Ireland 9/1
Wales 9/1
Australia 12/1
France 33/1
Argentina 40/1
Scotland 50/1
Japan 150/1
Latest updates
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
18 minutes
That's a worse moment for Kotaro Matsushima - he takes the ball near the touchline on his own 22 and despite a valiant attempt to tumble back into the field of play, he's got chalk on his toes. Russia lineout in fine position.
19 minutes
Strong defence from Japan, pushing the Russians outside of the 22 and forcing the error with a rush up on the corner. An errant pass, Japanese possession, and they win the resulting kicking battle, and will have a lineout near halfway.
Which they take quickly!...
20 minutes
This game is incredibly open, and remarkably error-prone. Both teams are looking to play. There'll be a few aching legs come 80 minutes.
22 minutes
Footwork! Yu Tamura catches, steps back to invite the would-be tackler and like a matador with red cape whips himself away from the bull of a Russian trying to chop him down. Japan win a penalty, and he kicks up to the opposite ten metre line.
23 minutes
Now Japan are finding their fluency. Matsushima is brought into the game from the lineout, finding a soft shoulder, and here's Michael Leitch in space, a step inside and a deft offload and on they go.
Just about worked wide to Lomano Lemeki, who shimmies...
And knocks on, much to the disappointment of the crowd, who rise as a Japanese player collects and dots down, but Nigel Owens has already signalled for a scrum.
An audacious offload from Timothy Lafaele set up Kotaro Matsushima as the hosts produced a swift and superb response.
25 minutes
Russia somehow emerge with the ball as Japan lift their arms in protest 30 metres out, and through the defenders tracking back NIkita Vavilin charges before being hauled back.
But he pops the ball away to Vladimir Ostroushko, who weaves and wiggles his way further on and then toes ahead, with Japan doing well to get three men back to flop on the ball and clear.
Russia lineout on the Japanese 22. Another chance to challenge the line.
27 minutes
If you wanted a case study of how the humidity in Japan might impact ball-handling throughout the tournament, this game is serving as an extreme example. Russia fumble again as they look to go wide, and Japan, too, as they look to counter from the back of it.
29 minutes
That's better from Russia - a perfectly-weighted chip hops into the hands of Dmitry Gerasimov, who swiftly whips the ball onwards and there's space on the right.
But the final pass needed to exploit that space never comes as a recovering tackler ties the ball up, and after three more phases there's - you guessed it - a handling error. Japan clear to halfway. Copy and paste stuff, this.
31 minutes
At some point one of these teams is going to latch on to a loose pass or knock on and score a runaway try. Reckless abandon, mostly, with ball-in-hand, and the kicking has been pretty loose, too.
Japan work a simpler attacking pattern, making simple short passes, but then Timothy Lafaele tries to force something and the ball spills from his grasp as he hits the deck. Russia scrum, but they'll have to wait to have it, because scrum-half Vasily Doropeev has taken a bang.
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