Brits confused when it comes to rugby rules.We struggle to identify the name of the England coach or our players Only a third of us know where the World Cup matches are being held this year.Football-mad English name Brazil as favourites to win this year’s Rugby World Cup.Jonny Wilkinson’s sex appeal pulls in the female viewers.Despite being the inventors of the sport and current world champions, many Brits are clueless when it comes to the finer points of rugby, a survey reveals. The poll of over 2000 people was specially commissioned by itv.com to celebrate its interactive range of Rugby World Cup content launched on the website today, including live streaming of all the ITV1 and ITV4 matches, highlights packages and unprecedented access the star players from present and past, including Will Greenwood, who’s Guide to Rugby can currently be seen at www.itv.com/rugby. The survey found that the while the vast majority of the nation (67%) expect to tune in to one or more matches, in fact only a quarter of those polled could correctly identify how many points are awarded for a try, conversion (42 %),  penalty kick (36%) and a drop goal (32%).A shocking 24 per cent of those surveyed knew that a rugby team is made up of 15 players, while nearly a quarter thought a match lasts 90 minutes - as long as football match.  Similarly, only 15 per cent correctly identified the three European locations where this year’s World Cup matches will be held – France, Scotland and Wales – the remaining 85 per cent of respondents chose an incorrect combination of randomly selected locations from a list.With nearly six in ten stating that the rules of rugby are too tricky to understand (59%), the poll also discovered that only a handful of us can distinguish our props from our flankers – just 10 per cent of those surveyed correctly named three or more rugby positions, while 43 per cent named just none.

It also discovered mass confusion over terminology used in the game. 10 per cent thought a ‘hooker’ was a woman who sleeps with rugby players and a further five per cent thought the term refereed to a piece of training equipment used by rugby players. The ‘blood bin’ was named as a place where players traditionally drink after the match by 22 per cent of the respondents, with over half (51 per cent) thinking it was a slang word for a rugby pitch. Only 14 per cent identified the correct definition: that a player with a visible and bleeding injury must leave the field.

But at least, it seems, almost all of us (98 per cent) knew that rugby was played with an oval-shaped ball…

Other survey findings show that perhaps we could all ‘try’ a little harder when it comes to following our own country’s rugby team. Only 23 per cent of respondents could correctly name the current England coach (Brian Ashton) – over a quarter (26%) thought World-cup-winning coach Clive Woodward is still at the helm.

And when it comes to knowing our team inside out, the independent poll of 2158 people, split equally between male and female respondents, showed that we faired just as bad. When put on the spot, 55 per cent couldn’t name a single England squad member, with just over a quarter (26%) naming only three players in the current national team.

But at least we are in agreement with something – who we think will win the tournament. Overall most people picked New Zealand as favourites to walk away with the cup this year (86 per cent), with 12 per cent of respondents, who are presumably more au fait with football, guessing that Brazil would be the top team, even though they are not even competing.

Annelies Van Den Belt, MD, Broadband, ITV, said: “It’s amazing that as a world-cup-holding nation, we know so little about rugby and its rules. Let’s hope our team on the field performs better in the tournament than the country did when we asked them about the rules of the sport. I think we could all benefit from a glance at Will Greenwood’s learn all tips at itv.com. ”   

The divide between the genders was evident in the survey. Only 17 per cent of women admitted to knowing about the rules of the sport compared to 61 per cent of men, with 49 per cent of females admitting they’ll only watch the World Cup for the ‘hunk factor’.

England whizz-kid Jonny Wilkinson scored best for sex appeal with the ladies, with more than half of females questioned (52%) putting him as their top reason for tuning in to matches. A third of women also said the sport is “too violent” (33 per cent) compared to only 2 per cent of men.

Other findings revealed that males from public school are more likely to know the rules of rugby - over 88 per cent said they had played the sport compared to only 25 per cent of those who attended mainstream education.

But overall the poll proved we’re still a sporting-mad nation. Almost 71 per cent agreed that rugby is a physically challenging sport and that the world cup provides great entertainment (14 per cent). A further 83 per cent said they thought more money should be spent developing rugby in the UK – presumably so we have a chance of winning the world cup again.

About itv.com’s Rugby World Cup Website. Itv.com, the new look, free entertainment destination from ITV, the leading commercial TV station, has confirmed its exciting new line-up of exclusive content to fully complement the coverage on ITV1 and ITV4 of the Rugby World Cup 2007.  Itv.com will provide viewers with an exciting and fully interactive range of content for the duration of the tournament.As the UK’s exclusive broadcast partner for the Rugby World Cup, itv.com has been granted unprecedented access to the full roster of matches, its star players and World Cup officials.

As well as Will Greenwood’s Guide to Rugby, the core Rugby World Cup 2007 content includes:

·Live streaming of all the matches as seen on ITV1 and ITV4. Click and watch the live simulcast of all the games instantly from your computer with real time stats on the games displayed on your screen alongside the video player.

·3 minute highlights packages of all the games. There’s no need for viewers to miss any of the best bits with itv.com’s tailored packages.

·Will Greenwoods in depth analysis throughout the tournament.

. Plus comment from other players and pundits. ·Exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ coverage. Fans can get closer to the action than ever before.

·Unique clips and content.  Everything from the top ten tries to most exciting tackles.

·Archive access. Explore the best bits of the tournaments from the depths of ITV’s archives over the years.