It was a case of hair today, gone tomorrow for Tonga after the IRB ordered England’s pool A rivals to wash green dye out of their hair before tonight’s match. Several of Tonga’s squad had coloured their hair as a thank-you to Paddy Power, the Irish bookmaker, which has helped to fund their World Cup campaign.

The team were angry that the IRB was issuing orders on hairdressing. “I do not get the ruling,” Nili Latu, the captain, who is bald, said. “Guys in other teams are wearing blond hair.”

Brian Ashton, the England coach, said Tonga’s hair colouring would not affect his team. “The only disappointment is that I was thinking of doing the same thing and they’ve stolen my thunder,” the grey-haired Ashton said.

England may struggle to rival Tonga in terms of speed, flowing passing or tackling. Certainly, they are a long way behind in terms of hairdos, with or without a green tinge. Finau Maka, the No 8, has already stood out with his extravagant Afro. Apparently, Maka has a prematch warm-up routine that involves him repeatedly butting the changing-room wall with the top of his head. His hairdo helps to cushion the blows.

Compare that flamboyance with the dull haircuts of the England team. Most look as if they have cut their hair to impress their mothers-in-law. Once David Strettle’s metatarsal injury prevented England from fielding a doppelgänger of the actor Owen Wilson, with his shaggy mop of blond hair, the only talking points were whether Jonny Wilkinson uses lemon juice to tint his locks and why Mike Catt’s crew cut, now overgrown, made him look like Jim Robinson in the early days of Neighbours.

Wales are doing their bit to promote unconventional haircuts. As well as Colin Charvis’s “Maka-Lite” Afro, there are Adam and Duncan Jones, the permed props known as “the hair bear bunch”. It is a shame that Gavin Henson did not make the squad as whatever style he employs – from red dye to making it stick up like Cameron Diaz’s hair in There’s Something About Mary – grabs attention.

England have not had a truly ridiculous haircut since the days of Mickey Skinner in the early 1990s. Skinner’s mullet was copied at the last World Cup by Shane Byrne, of Ireland.

It is another Irishman who has the best chance of stealing the award for wacky hair at this World Cup from Maka, however. Isaac Boss, the scrum half, has sported a hairstyle that is a cross between Chris Waddle’s mullet and Tana Umaga’s dreadlocks, with a close shave along the base. Very odd.

A close third comes Jo Maso, the France manager, whose hair for some reason always seems reminiscent of the actress Pauline Collins.