I have to admit that when I first saw the Rugby World Cup fixtures I did not expect us to have to be worrying about beating Tonga in our final game. I have decided that in this blog I will focus a bit less on the rugby and a bit more on the important bits – where we have been going out.

Carrs Irish bar has really become the unofficial VU Clubhouse out in Paris. It has got a fantastic atmosphere and is a great rugby pub. I suspect they have been serving even more Guinness as the Irish fans have drowned their sorrows.

My VU trips have been doing well in there as well. It is great to have a base in the centre of Paris and Carrs has been the perfect venue. The Rugby World Cup is really a big rugby tour for us and it is important that the social aspect is done properly. I put a lot of dedicated research into that side of things. I came across Carrs, which is not far from the Louvre (bit of culture there), when I was in Paris for a Six Nations weekend. I needed to find somewhere to watch the Sunday fixture on the TV and it has been base camp in Paris for me and VU clients ever since.

The other place in Paris which has become like a second home over the last few weeks is a fantastic club called VIP Rooms on the Champs-Elysees. It reminds me of one of my favourite London clubs Chinawhites although it is in France so perhaps a tiny bit more classy. During the tournament we have had some big nights in VIP, it is not hard when you are among the beautiful people of Paris and Bath.

Last weekend Irish legend Paul Wallace kept insisting that I stayed out with him – he was probably trying to forget his team’s performance. Every time I suggested I might turn in he said we had to have another drink. I did not roll out of the club until 6am.

The club is known to entertain notable celebrities including Richard Branson, Robbie Williams and in the last couple of weeks Austin Healey and Matt Dawson (not quite world class celebrities those two). It is always good to catch up with those boys and I expect we will have one or two more drinks in Carrs and VIP before the end of the tournament.

Fingers crossed for the game and one thing is for sure we will remember this world cup for the excellent nights out even if England’s campaign does ultimately end in defeat.

It is obviously a different sort of build up for me this week as I am not in the squad for Friday’s game against Tonga. Of course I would like to be involved but I am confidet that we will get through the game and I will be back for the quarters.

Brian Ashton took me to one side before the squad was announced and said he was going to bring Lee Mears onto the bench. He said Lee was the only member of the squad not to have been involved so far and he was coming in. It was also clear that it was not the end of the tournament for me and I am looking forward to seeing more action in this World Cup.

Dropping out means extra training and it has been a lot of hard work. My least favourite piece of gym equipment is the rowing machine – it makes me feel sea sick just looking at it – so I will be glad when I am back in the 22.

Matt Stevens has been playing really well at prop but like many people I did expect Phil to get back into the team as captain. However I am sure he will still get on the pitch and he will be eased back into the tournament gradually.

We are still very positive after the win against Samoa and feel like we have turned a corner but you are only as good as your last game, and we don’t want the match with Tonga to be that. The Tongans have been the surprise package in this tournament. They beat Samoa so we know we have got to raise our game again.

Paul Sackey did brilliantly and showed his club form at international level for the first time. His finishing was excellent; everyone else will do the hard work for him! Although Sackey looks like he has an appetite for rugby his appetite for French food is not so good. We all went out for a meal the other night and Sackey avoided all the beautiful fish and chicken dishes and asked for a burger instead. He really is the fussiest eater I know. When I heard what he was asking for I also arranged for the waiters to get him some crayons and paper to go with his kids meal. They even managed to find him some ketchup – I bet the French chef wanted to throw knives at him. Yesterday we went out for lunch and before our flying winger had a chance to get his order in I had got the waiters to get him a kid’s meal of alphabetti spaghetti. Of course he really enjoyed it.

Time to answer a few of the questions on the last blog. I don’t mind other teams doing the Haka. Rugby is a spectator sport and I am sure those coming to the games love to see the Haka. I actually use the power of what they are doing as a focus for my own energy. The whole routine actually gives me a boost.

I have only just read that Latham is meant to be coming to the Memorial Stadium. I suspect it is just a rumour and the same story could have been written about any number of clubs. I have heard enough rumours to know that you should never bank on a player coming to a particular team until they have pulled on the jersey for the first time.

I have just had a game of pool with Phil Vickery. I won’t tell you the result but I am Premiership quality and he is Vauxhall Conference. Enjoy the game on Friday.

We are a very happy camp today after yesterday’s hard fought victory. It was a great relief to get such a good win over quality opposition. The consequences of failure and going out of the tournament were too dire to think about.

We’ve had the press on our backs right from the start of the tournament following the performance against USA, so it was great to get things back on track and a World Cup quarter final against Australia is now looming large.

But we can’t get too ahead ourselves as we’ve another tough encounter ahead of us on Friday against Tonga. For that game it’s simply winner takes all and up for grabs is that place in the quarters and the Aussies.

The game against Samoa I’m sure was a great game for the neutral but it wasn’t so much fun having to watch it from the bench when there’s nothing you can do to help the 15 guys out on the field.

At half time we were convincingly ahead and the aim was to get out and make sure we scored first in the second half. Unfortunately the Samoan’s came out very strongly and at 26-22 with less than 20 minutes, the finger nails were being bitten.

The locals in the crowd were getting behind the Samoans and we needed to be composed. I thought we not only did that, but were really clinical in taking the chances that came our way. We closed the game out fantastically well.

Today has been a chance for some R & R. We are still down in Nantes and have had families and friends with us and it’s been a very chilled day. We’ve largely been left to our own devices with some of the guys heading to the golf course and others, me included, indulging in a spot of go-karting.

We’ll be heading back up to our HQ outside Paris tomorrow and then from Tuesday onwards we’ll be fully focussed on the Tonga game. We are happy with the win but we know that there is still plenty to work on ahead of Friday.

The bonus from yesterday was that we didn’t pick up any injuries. As always against any team from the Pacific Islands yesterday was a very physical game, but also a fair one and played in great spirit. Obviously there are a few bumps and bruises to nurse from yesterday but nothing more serious than that.

I’m sure Brian [Ashton] would relish the opportunity to pick an unchanged team. Even with Phil [Vickery] available for selection after completing his suspension. If we did go with the same team, it would the first time in a good wile since we’ve been able to do that. And to be fair the guys that played yesterday deserve to stay in the team

We picked a team to do a job against the USA and didn’t really perform. We then picked what was supposed to be our first choice team against South Africa and we were well beaten. But yesterday, when we needed a win desperately to stay in the competition, the guys who were selected stepped up to the plate.

So it’s onwards and upwards. As I said, we know that we’ve a tough game ahead of us on Friday against a very physical Tongan side who will be putting everything on the line to try to get past us, but we are relishing the prospect of facing Australia. And believe me we don’t to miss out on that!

I’m signing off now but will be back later in the week to give an update on how preparations are going for the Tonga game.

Even today I still can’t shift the huge disappointment from last Friday and the way England failed to compete with South Africa. It is now time to put all that aside, at least for a few hours anyway, and concentrate on Le Crunch.

There have been some big games so far but surely tonight sees the biggest in this year’s tournament. For Ireland it is not quite the last chance salon but defeat tonight would leave them needing a bonus point win against Argentina next week to stand any chance of going through. And even that might mean a date with the All Blacks in Cardiff.

For France it is simple – lose and they are out. Looking ahead to tonight’s game there are some interesting team changes to conjure with. For the Irish the change at scrum half looks bold. Eion Reddan certainly has impressed at Wasps and will be more combative and aggressive in his approach. Talking to Irish legend Mike Gibson earlier today he feels that the French could well be more worried about Reddan than they would have been if Peter Stringer had been selected.

 Can the Irish come up with the big performance tonight? Certainly some of the Irish contingent I have been with today think so. I am here in Paris today with another group of VU rugby fans all licking their lips at the prospect of tonight’s encounter. With us today are Irish rugby legends Paul Wallace and the afore mentioned Mike Gibson. Both guys, although showing a few nerves ahead of the game, firmly believe the Irish will get the win they need.

Paul feels that France are still very much the favourites.  ‘The Irish have not lost yet and I would be incredibly surprised if we did not see a big performance from them tonight. The pressure is all on France. The Irish are the underdogs and that is the way we prefer it.”

Tactically Paul would like to see a shift away from the way Ireland have approached the previous two games. “I think we have been using Brian (O’Driscoll) too much from first phase ball and I think we have been far too flat when we have had second and third phase possession,” he said.

He believes the lineout will be crucial and feels the selection of Sebastian Chabal in the French second row will play into Irish hands. “He is a fantastic player, but I would have picked him the back row. It should mean that with their best lineout jumpers missing it will enable us to dominate the lineout and hopefully starve the French of the ball.”

Mike feels the inspiration for the Irish players could well be found in what the consequences of defeat will mean. Again, as with Paul, he feels the Irish have to be tactically astute, particularly with their kicking game.

He said: “We need Ronan (O’Gara) to have one of his Munster performances where he controls the game and puts his forwards where they want to be, deep in French territory. His kicking needs to be spot on as he needs to be very careful of the pace and power the French back three possess.”

Many thanks to Mike and Paul for their time. I will be there pulling for the guys in green at St Denis tonight. Whatever happens there should be an amazing atmosphere and it will be a fantastic occasion.

France out of the World Cup two weeks into the tournament? Who would have thought that before the first ball was kicked but, if the Irish can produce that big performance, we know is in there and get a foothold in the match it may just be their night.

Just after I finished my last blog the whole squad got together for a clear the air meeting. It is up to the 30 players and management to sort it out because this weekend really is ‘must win’ time against Samoa.

It was a necessary meeting and you can imagine the anger and hurt we were feeling – especially after we had trained so hard. It was an open forum to express our views which is better than some sort of whispering campaign, and really allowed us to clear the air.

South Africa must not be seen as a fatal hammer blow. We are well aware that we are playing below our potential. We can not eradicate the pain but what we can do is turn it into a motivating factor. One thing that came out of it was a need to simplify the game plan. The desire to do well is still there and the team spirit is still good, despite our disappointing start.

The training has gone well. In fact I have got a couple of names to share with you. Peter Richards has been nicknamed ‘Apple’ (the same name as Gwyneth Paltrow’s baby). The reason is that in training he keeps turning the ball over so Apple Turnover has been shortened to Apple!

The other name is for Nick Easter. Easter told me in confidence (sorry!) that he calls HIMSELF ‘The Dominator’. Can you believe that he actually looks in the mirror and in all seriousness calls himself The Dominator? Obviously I could not keep quiet about that one and all the lads know. Not only does it make him sound like an arse but it is even too cheesy a name to be used for a Hollywood film.

A few of the boys went off to the Palace of Versailles this week, but I must say I am no culture vulture. I stayed behind with a few of the boys – including The Dominator – to watch a film.

I am disappointed not to be starting the game this time but this is a good squad environment. You have to take the rough with the smooth, and if I get the chance to come off the bench I am looking forward to helping England achieve the victory we must have.