England visit Christchurch ahead of rugby World Cup opener

England were making a goodwill visit to Christchurch on Wednesday ahead of their opening Rugby World Cup match. Martin Johnson's men had been scheduled to play pool fixtures against Argentina and Georgia in the city before the February 22 earthquake led to the games being moved to Dunedin, where England begin their World Cup campaign against the Pumas on Saturday. Johnson, and several members of the England squad, are set to take a look round Christchurch's Lancaster Park ground, which was badly damaged by the earthquake, and meet young rugby fans at a local school. "The whole England squad was shocked by what took place in February and we wanted to show our support for the people of Christchurch who are getting back on their feet following such a tragic event," Johnson said in a statement issued by the Rugby Football Union last week. "We know how keen they were to play a role in the Rugby World Cup and we were looking forward to being based there," added Johnson, England's 2003 World Cup-winning captain. The All Blacks are due to be in Christchurch from September 17-20 while Australia will travel there on September 28. February's 6.3-magnitude quake killed an estimated 180 people. It left New Zealand's second largest city with a huge repair job before the September 9 kick-off and tournament chiefs decided that was too little time for Christchurch to get itself back in a position to stage World Cup matches.