RWC 2015: Opening ceremony's asteroid rugby ball and Prince Harry gets Twitter talking

It was a weird yet wonderful curtain-raiser

The 2015 Rugby World Cup opening ceremony (Getty Images)

The waiting is finally over, the 2015 Rugby World Cup is here and, as is tradition, the start of the tournament was marked by a slightly odd opening ceremony.

The ceremony's centre-piece was a huge rugby ball which, if we are to believe to the video trailer shown on ITV, had just hurtled down to earth from outer space. It landed, rather inconveniently, in the centre of the Twickenham pitch.

Then came the customary performance arts, with a gang of rather sorry-looking rugby players in muddied kits dismantling the ball to reveal the Webb Ellis trophy.

Eventually, we were all brought back down to earth by Prince Harry and his speech about the game's 'virtues'.

All in all, quite surreal and not too dissimilar from London 2012's curtain-raiser.

Here's how those watching at home reacted to the showcase event...

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