Simple things will settle this

AFTER everything that has happened to me during this World Cup – in and out of the team, the niggling injuries – I can safely put the quarter-final against France tomorrow among the top three games of my life. It is up there with my first cap for England, against Canada in 2004, and of course our World Cup final of 2007. The latter is a game I could never be allowed to forget after my ‘try’ that wasn’t. People bring up that game, specifically that one incident, all the time. Selection for an occasion of this magnitude prompts a mix of joy, for sure, but in my case relief as well after my try hat-trick against Romania was followed by my omission against Scotland. I realise Delon Armitage, who was on the left wing in that game, is suspended from this one game so will be available again next week if we can get past the French and into the semi-finals against Ireland or Wales. Better not to think too far ahead, though. The onus is on me to give my very best performance not to withstand next week’s Delon challenge but to help make sure England win. No one in our squad rests on his laurels anyway, whatever the Test match. I have abundant experience as an England player and if there is one thing I have learned in that time it is that trying to force something special tends to result in the opposite.This is as true for the team as for any individual. And once we get to this stage of a World Cup, the game if anything becomes even simpler, not about trying a miracle run or miracle pass but doing the simplest of things well. Maybe we have an advantage in this area, as the French themselves seem to acknowledge. In the ‘basics’ at the sharp end of a tournament, when over-emotion can be a dangerous thing, England are usually calm practitioners. That said, we know that whatever state people think the French are in after defeat against Tonga, they are never more dangerous than when their critics believe they have no chance. Look at England in the 2007 World Cup. The analogy is remarkably accurate, in that you could compare France’s pool stage here with ours in their country four years ago. Look what we did, how far we went, all the way to the final when nobody gave us a hope after our big pool defeat by South Africa. England ’07 is a permanent reminder of how rapidly fortunes can turn, as long as you are good enough. We were in 2007. We must hope France are not now. But we must also believe the vast ability running through their side will be shown against us. If that happens, then we will have to play better rugby for longer periods than we have yet achieved here at this World Cup. Out of our own adversity has come greater strength. People may call us negative but we have scored 18 tries and conceded one. Those are outstanding figures. Win ugly, and we will be criticised. Lose beautifully, though, and we will still be criticised. I am bursting to play after being stood down from the pool decider last week. After facing the Romanians, I felt that I was fit last week, but Martin Johnson and the coaches told me they thought that I still needed more training and game-time to make a full recovery from all my previous back problems. I had told Martin rather forthrightly after I had been left out of the side to play Scotland that I disagreed with his prognosis. So, during training yesterday, when he told me he thought I was looking sharp, I naturally agreed. To which he retorted: “That’s what you get for that extra week.” This is a debate he cannot lose and only goes to show that the England team manager will always have the last word. And rightly so.