PUBS across the region will open at breakfast time today to cash in on Rugby World Cup fever.

The North-East may be a football crazy, but landlords and managers are hoping fans will want to watch the final between Australia and England on big screens with their mates instead of sitting at home in their dressing gowns.

Scores of hostelries have won permission from magistrates to open their doors in time for the kick-off in Sydney, at about 9am our time.

They will be serving bacon butties and full breakfasts and some will be pouring pints hours before the usual 11am opening time.

Most fans will be rooting for England - and hoping that Newcastle Falcons star and England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson's kicking skills are as good as ever.

But the region has its own Aussie contingent, who will hope to be cheering on the Wallabies to a famous victory over their Pommie adversaries.

There will be gold and green shirts on display at the region's two Walkabout Australian theme bars, in Middlesbrough and Durham City, which employ English and antipodean staff.

Durham City, with its prominent university student population, has a lot of rugby enthusiasts, and pubs hope to attract as many customers as they did during last year's football World Cup.

Paula Richardson, from Perth, Western Australia, a barmaid at the city's Walkabout, said: "I'm confident we'll win and I'm hoping it will be by a big margin."

O'Neill's Irish bar, in Claypath, Durham, is opening at 8.30am and is expected to be an English-supporting enclave.

Catterick Racecourse, in North Yorkshire, is inviting people to enjoy a day of rugby and racing for £10, from 8.45am.

A big crowd is expected at Newcastle Falcons' Kingston Park ground, in Gosforth, north Newcastle, where fans will be cheering on the local hero in the Concourse Bar.