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The England team may have been understrength for the match against Australia on Saturday, but I believe they threw away a golden opportunity after a good first half with some poor tackling and failing to capitalise on key opportunities.

It makes this Saturday's clash with Argentina even more crucial for Martin Johnson to prove himself. He believes England can pull it together and get a win out of Saturday, but following the last game's performance I think it will be tricky.

The same couldn't be said for our hospitality at the rugby which was a success from start to finish. Check out the photos of our Clubhouse here. A fantastic time was had by all!

We're delighted to announce the winner of our October draw competition as Richard Turpin. Richard wins a fantastic weekend away in Paris for France vs England. Some great rugby hospitality!

For November we have two tickets to the highly anticipated six nations clash of England vs Wales. All you have to do is make your booking one for any of the events listed on VU's calendar before the end of November.

England themselves are hoping for some luck as Martin Johnson finds that eleven players in his original squad are on the injured list. He will therefore hold of announcing the final 22 until mid-week. Players like Richard Blaze and Mike Tindall look doubtful leaving Johnson with a squad headache.

However Johnson still believes he can put a squad together that can challenge the Wallabies and with a fully fit Jonny Wilkinson to use we can still give Australia a run for their money.

Three weeks into the new season and we've already seen some great rugby and impressive performances. Both Saracens and Wasps seem determined to battle it out at the top of the table and are both on three wins out of three.

However injuries have begun to rack up for international players. Jordan Turner-Hall is the latest player to go on the injured list with surgery needed for his shoulder. He joins Riki Flutey who Turner-Hall was expected to replace, also out with a bad shoulder.

As well as them, on the list are Toby Flood and Sam Flutey from Leicester and Delon Armitage, whose shoulder is dislocated.

All of this will be worrying news for England as they prepare for the Autumn Internationals against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. It's a shame to see such promising players fall out of crucial positions, but it will be up to the resolve of the England team to see them persevere. 

As summer begins to wind down my thoughts turn towards the great series of internationals we have coming up as Australia, New Zealand and Argentina visit our shores.

The All Blacks are still reeling from their defeat to South Africa in the Tri-Nations Cup, where their own coaching staff said that 'basic rugby skills' had been lacking from New Zealand's approach to the games.

Australia fared even worse than their antipodean counterparts winning only one of their games in the competition. The Wallabies will certainly be seeing the autumn games as time to consolidate and bounce back.

Meanwhile Argentina remain a force to be reckoned with in the Southern Hemisphere and I reckon that Los Pumas will definitely have a surprise or two up their sleeve. 

All in all the stage looks set for some great games of rugby, see you there!

I had to keep it under my hat for a day but I am pleased to say I will be starting against Australia in Marseille on Saturday, I hope you have all got tickets.

This Rugby World Cup has been a knockout situation for us for the last two games and I looking forward to getting back out on the pitch for this massive game.

I have just been at a press conference and a lot of the talk was about the inclusion of Andy Farrell and Phil Vickery. Both will offer the experience and physical side of the game we need against the Australians. Andy has really grown as a player during this World Cup and he is a great team man.

I spoke about the Aussies in my last blog, however one thing I want to reiterate is the need to win this game up front. We have picked a big pack out of respect for Australia. There was a time when it could be said they were weak in the pack but that is not the case now. Mike Foley is their forwards coach. He was forwards coach at Bath and I also played against him at international level so I know that he will have left no stone unturned in getting together a world beating pack.

This contest is going to be a bruiser and we all know the Aussies will be out of revenge. Take my word for it that we will be throwing the kitchen sink and all the cutlery at this one.

I found out I was in the team yesterday when Brian pulled the flip chart down. It is always a great moment when you see your name up there. I know one of the questions on the blog is how I get on with the other hookers and I must say that is all good. Lee Mears was again the first to congratulate me, mind you I did teach him everything he knows! We all know it is going to take the whole squad to win this tournament not just a handful of players.

One of the other questions is who was the best at shooting. Put it this way the forwards were good and the backs average.

We are off out for a meal tonight and before that I am going to watch a bit of TV with The Dominator (see previous posts). I wonder if he will pretend to be some sort of action hero jumping over the sofa.

I thought I would let you know who I thought was the player of the tournament so far – but excluding the England team. I must admit that we have not watched all the games as it is important to concentrate on ourselves. However what I have seen I must say Hernandez from Argentina has been fantastic. They have got to start as favourites against the Scots.

Time for a bit of TV with The Dominator and then I had better ring ahead to the restaurant to order Sackey his burger and chips.