It’s going to start with a nightmare encounter tomorrow night (Friday) and end on Halloween, but England still harbours hope of waking up in rugby heaven on November 1.

Fans are gearing up for what is likely to be the biggest, best and most bruising Rugby World Cup in history – and it’s all happening on English soil, where the game was born.

And as Medway’s own World Cup winner Rachael Burford knows, home advantage counts for a lot when the pressure mounts on rugby’s grandest stage.

But it will be far from easy. England will be lucky to escape injury free after the opening encounter with hard-tackling Fiji on Friday night, and beyond that the rest of the “Pool of Death” awaits – with Australia and Wales surely keener than ever to give the English a bloody nose on their home turf with the world looking on. All of which surely makes this one of the toughest ever World Cups to predict...

“England are obviously going to win the final,” laughs Rachael, and she’s only half joking, because as tough as the World Cup is, she believes the England squad is ready for its challenges.

“I’ve got to back them,” she added. “They’ve gone through some big battles in the last 18 months – they’ve been within touching distance of the best sides and beaten some of the best sides in the last two seasons, but the biggest thing they have is the home advantage.

“I know from experience it makes a big difference.”

Indeed, the 28-year-old from Rochester was part of the winning team that lifted the world cup in 2014, and has since become the first female professional player on the Rugby Players’ Association players’ board.

Still, this World Cup will be bigger than anything any rugby player in the world has experienced in their lives.

“I have to give credit to England Rugby because it is just everywhere,” said Rachael. “They’re trying to captivate the whole country. You could think of it as pressure and allow it to take over in a negative way or you could think ‘actually everyone is so behind us.’

“Every game for every team is going to be tough, but by the nature of this competition anything can happen.

“It’s about who can deal with each game as it comes and not thinking too far ahead. It’s been called the pool of death, but England will be on their game.

“I think they learnt their lesson a couple of weeks ago when they were beaten by France in the second game. I think they expected to win, but it was a good thing because they came absolutely flying against Ireland.

“It gave them the opportunity to say ‘we can’t let that happen again’, and I think they’re in a really good mental head space. All the support is gearing them up to come out absolutely flying.”

Particular focus has been on the selection of Rugby League convert Sam Burgess, fast-tracked into the England midfield, despite the doubts of some heavyweight pundits. Burford, who also plays at centre, is backing him to come off the bench and shine.

“Sam Burgess brings a different physicality,” she said. “When he’s on the field the opposition are looking wherever he is.

“You almost want people to leave him alone and stop talking about him or pulling him down – just let him play”

“I think he’ll be a key asset,” she added. “When games get tight he could be a go-to man.”

But she said the key to victory would be the England pack's mobility, combined with the ability of backs like Anthony Watson and Mike Brown to provide inspirational moments.

“It’s going to be pretty exciting,” she added. “My advice will be to focus on winning one game at a time, and play each minute as it comes.

“There’s going to be a lot of tense moments. There will be a few upsets, a few questionable refereeing decisions, injuries, and selection issues. All of these things make it exciting.”