England captain Chris Robshaw is hoping the Rugby World Cup will inspire a new generation of fans and players.

Robshaw wants to become only the second England captain to lift the trophy, emulating Martin Johnson, who led the team kicked to victory by Jonny Wilkinson in 2003.

That success remains the benchmark for the game in England and helped inspire a teenage Robshaw.

"(When) you look back to 2003 the amount of people who took up the sport was tremendous.

"I remember watching Jonny kick the winning drop-goal and I was probably out in the street trying to copy it afterwards.

"As sportsmen and as a team you want to inspire that next generation to start playing.

"Whenever I've spoken to rugby fans they're so excited about the tournament.

"You want to go out there and make them proud and play well because you represent them.

"I think there's an opportunity out there for us to do something."

The eighth edition of the tournament is the largest sporting event to be held in the UK since the London Olympics.

It will be a truly national event, with the 20 teams playing 48 matches in 11 cities, from Exeter in the South West to Newcastle in the North East.

Almost 2.2 million tickets have been sold for matches at the 13 venues including Wembley, which will host the biggest crowd in World Cup history when New Zealand play Argentina on Sunday.

As with London 2012, organisers hope to capture a legacy of participation and popularity.

The Rugby Football Union is hoping to move the game beyond its traditional roots.

It wants to make it more open and diverse, as well as broadening its appeal in the state school sector, which provides fewer than 40% of the nation's regular players despite educating 93% of the population.

With the backing of Prince Harry, it has launched an All Schools programme, an attempt to get the game into 750 state schools by 2019.

The success of such schemes will be helped immeasurably by a successful run from the hosts.

New Zealand start as favourites to retain the trophy they won four years ago at home, and South Africa, Australia, France, Ireland and Wales all have genuine aspiration to challenge.

England's task is complicated by the fact they face two of them - Wales and Australia - in their group, with only two teams qualifying.

(Sky News)