By Tom Fordyce

On one side of the world, the biggest World Cup in the history of rugby is in full swing, with England justifying their pre-tournament billing as favourites to lift the Webb Ellis trophy.

Back in Blighty, the scenario is far less rosy.

While English rugby union at the top level might be the envy of the world, the game at grassroots level is in crisis. And even a World Cup final win for Clive Woodward's men in a month's time might not be enough to arrest the decline.

Here are the cold facts, as revealed in a recent Mori poll for the Rugby Football Union:

• Less than one fifth of the English population is interested in rugby union, down from a quarter in 1996. Only rugby league, boxing and snooker have suffered a greater decline in interest.
• Just 4% of the population (aged 15+) have played rugby.
• The number of active rugby clubs has fallen over the past two seasons, from 1,537 to 1,480
• Rugby ranks 15th among school sports and physical activities, behind dance. Only volleyball has seen a greater decline in participation since 1994.
• Participation in rugby in secondary schools has declined by 11% to 28%.

To the RFU, the World Cup presents a badly-needed opportunity to take rugby to new audiences, attract kids to the game and bring back players who have drifted away.

This drive will not be financed by the World Cup. The RFU's revenue this year, like that of all the home nations, has been hit by the loss of the autumn internationals.

But the RFU's Community Rugby programme has an �8m yearly budget with which to revitalise interest in the game, and as director Terry Burwell told the BBC, he is determined that the big break is not wasted.

"It's about participation - bring people in and bringing people back," says Burwell. "The experience of the World Cup in 1991 says we're likely to get only a small hit at that.

Will Jonny Wilkinson inspire more people to play rugby union?

"The critical lesson is to be prepared. After the Great Britain hockey team won gold at the 1988 Olympics, thousands of kids turned up at hockey clubs wanting to be the next Sean Kerly.

"But they couldn't access hockey sticks, they couldn't access all-weather surfaces and there weren't sufficient coaches, so they began to drift away from the sport.

"Our strategy is about what happens when people come to rugby clubs, and how we can keep them. Because they will come - you have to have confidence in that."

The RFU is pinning its hopes of re-invigorating grassroots rugby on a three-part strategy.

The first element involves re-building the sport in schools, training teachers to coach it and re-establishing links between schools and clubs.

The second is a drive to improve standards of coaching and officiating at cub level. The reasoning is simple: a better product means more enjoyment for those involved, which in turn should mean more people will want to participate.

Finally, the focus will shift to rugby in its less traditional forms - sevens, touch rugby, beach rugby, rugby in the park - versions which are aimed at those unimpressed or intimidated by the 15-a-side game.

Adopt a Wilko

"There is a link between a country's performance at the elite level and interest in the grassroots game, but we're not geared to England's success at the World Cup," says Burwell.

"The fact that England are ranked number one in the world is already working for us, but interest in the sport during the World Cup should go through the roof.

We need to have regular club rugby on terrestrial TV to maintain interest and "brand loyalty", and develop sporting heroes. Not just the internationals during the Spring and Autumn From kthornton Have your say on Scrum V

"We have a co-ordinated campaign to raise awareness, much of it built on the back of some very strong role models."

In practical terms this means that each England player with the squad in Australia has adopted a constituent body - an ugly way of saying that each has been linked with a county or combination of counties that reports to the RFU.

Thus you have Jonny Wilkinson tied to Northumberland Rugby Union, Trevor Woodman to Cornwall RFU and Richard Hill to Dorset and Wiltshire RU.

Then there are events like the XV 15 Days of Rugby, a festival in the north-west of England that incorporates coaching days, tag rugby tournaments and tactical sessions runs by England sevens head coach Joe Lydon.

But hanging over it all is the unspoken fear is that, much as hockey blew its big chance in 1988, should rugby not seize its chance in 2003, it too could become a minor sport played only in public schools and affluent pockets of southern England.