Beer dispensaries and ball pimples: 10 bits of Rugby World Cup miscellany

Rugby union’s showpiece event will see eye-catching kits, facial recognition for journalists and spontaneously dancing mascots1 Major Japanese sports, particularly baseball, keep spectators lubricated thanks to vendors who patrol the stands dispensing beer into cups. Known as Uriko, they are key to organisers’ plans to meet the demand for beer, a significant logistical issue since bars were drunk dry before kick-off when Australia visited in 2017. The Japanese brewery of Heineken, the tournament’s official beer sponsor, increased production by 80% – “We’ll try not to run out of stock no matter…