Jonny Wilkinson and Prince Harry kicked off the 365 day countdown © Getty Images

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It is one year until the 2015 Rugby World Cup kicks off and with the tournament spanning 48 matches, there will be plenty for the rugby connoisseur to get their teeth into. Tickets are going fast and ESPNscrum picks out a batch of five games we cannot wait to digest.

September 23 - Australia v Fiji

Australia will head into the World Cup as one of the favourites to lift the title. They are bringing together a squad blending pace and power but they will not have it their own way against Fiji at the Millennium Stadium. Fiji have a formidable back line, one which includes Tigers' flyer Niki Goneva, and if the IRB/Olympics loophole sees a few of the old All Blacks journeying back to their Island roots, then Fiji will have more than enough about them to cause some shocks in this World Cup. They join England and Wales in Pool A so qualification is probably beyond them but they will leave some bruised bodies on the way.

September 25 - Argentina v Georgia

Gloucester's Kingsholm stronghold will host this Pool C match and it is a fitting venue. 'Castle Grim' has seen its fair share of physical match-ups over the years, no less than last season's West Country derby against Bath which saw seven cards issued, and this should be another high-octane clash. For Argentina, they will be favourites with their experienced pack countered by the emerging Manuel Montero in the backs but they will face a Georgian team who will prioritise physicality and the scrum. Tradition has it that both Georgian and Argentinian teams always have the most potent of front-rows and the battle should be intriguing there but also watch out for Mamuka Gorgodze going hell for leather in Georgia's back-row.

September 26 - South Africa v Samoa

On the subject of physicality, South Africa's game against Samoa at Villa Park in Pool B will not want for it either. Like Australia, South Africa will fancy their chances of winning the sport's biggest prize but Samoa will ask all sorts of questions of Heyneke Meyer's men. Samoa will benefit from the superb Pisi brothers in the backs and No.8 Joe Tekori will also make his presence felt.

September 26 - England v Wales

It is likely whatever happens at Villa Park will not get the same column inches as the events later in the day at Twickenham. England face Wales annually but the World Cup match-ups have that extra edge to them. They have met twice before in the global gathering with England winning in 2003 and Wales taking the spoils back in 1987. Much has already been made of the competitiveness of Pool A with Warren Gatland expressing his misgivings over just how three of the world's top six sides ended up in the same group, but that's all history. Now they must get on with it. There will be plenty of words exchanged in the build-up to this match and it should be one of the games of the World Cup.

October 9 - New Zealand v Tonga

One box the tournament organisers ensured they ticked was the spread of games the country over. While you can see England at their traditional Twickenham base, you can also see them in Manchester. The same goes for the champions New Zealand who play in Wembley and the Olympic Stadium and also in Newcastle United's St James Park. They will beat Tonga, of that there is little doubt, but expect the Islanders to ask questions of the All Blacks. In the last World Cup they knocked over France in the pool stages and while they are likely to fall to the Kiwis, it should be a memorable game.