The video shows the lookalike practising his place-kicking under the floodlights, before he fluffs the kick and turns out to not be the real Wilkinson.

A strapline then appears on the video, which reads "it's not always easy to spot a fake".

Wilkinson scored the winning drop goal for England in the final of the 2003 tournament against Australia.

The video has been launched by Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) and England Rugby 2015 as part of a worldwide campaign urging fans to "buy official".

Up to one million tickets across 48 matches at the Rugby World Cup went on general sale earlier this month, with fans given until September 29 to apply.

Any oversubscribed matches will go to a ballot in order to ensure fair allocation.

Last week, tournament head Alan Gilpin said black market ticket sales for the World Cup are "inevitable".

Tickets were being offered at up to 44 times their face value hours before the official ticketing launch.

But he also said they were well prepared to deal with the issue, and their online campaign is part of that effort.



RWCL chairman Bernard Lapasset said: "With a little less than one year to go until England 2015, we are looking ahead to what promises to be a very special celebration of the sport.

"Ensuring a superb experience for fans is our priority and we are advising everyone to ensure that they buy Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets, hospitality, supporter tours and merchandise from official sources only to avoid missing out."