For bookings and further information call

At last, my post Rugby World Cup blog. I needed a few days to recover after an incredible six weeks. Now it is a couple of weeks of unwinding before getting back  in a Bristol shirt for the Heineken Cup clash against Cardiff.

After Saturday’s defeat I feel disappointed but certainly not disgraced. We can take heart in the fact that we gave the final our very best shot. It came down to a few millimetres which meant a try was disallowed. That decision would have changed the whole game and I have not seen any conclusive evidence that it was not a try. However there are no bad feelings. South Africa are a great side who deserve to be crowned World Champions.

It was about the 79^th minute when I had to admit we were not going to do it. Our campaign has been built on belief, hard work and amazing team spirit. To fall at the last hurdle is not a nice feeling, but I really do feel proud about the way we turned it around.

After the game Wills and Harry popped in to say hello. I have met their Granny a couple of times and I asked them to tell her that I would not be popping around to her house this time because we had not won.

After the disappointment of picking up losers medals it was back to the bar in the hotel and then on to a nightclub. Considering we had lost the spirit (and spirits) was good. We had had the most amazing adventure and we wanted to finish it together by having a decent social. Jonny can no longer be called the Olympic Torch (he never goes out) as he joined us in the bar and then went on to the nightclub.

The RFU had splashed a bit of cash on a decent do. Just by looking at me you could tell it was a free bar because I was walking around with 10 bottles of beer. I usually only do that when Victor is paying.

On Sunday it was a bit of a painful head but then back in to Paris for a few more pints and a look at the F1 and football on the TV. I failed to catch up with Vic although I did hear he was feeling a bit tired the poor babs.

Being back home with the family I have had time to reflect – and fix my Jacuzzi which was not bubbling properly.

Firstly I can categorically say that I am not retiring from International rugby and am available for selection if required, quite simply I am still enjoying it so why would I choose to quit.  I retired once and did not particularly enjoy that so I am aiming to stick around this time if I am wanted. I might be 35 but I feel fit and healthy and ready for any new challenges there might be. There have been comments that the experienced heads should step aside for the youngsters, but I think a mix is important if the older ones are playing well enough. I think the younger guys really benefited from our experience, especially after such as poor start, and it would be good to keep a bit of that going. The 6 Nations is set up for a great contest. The Celtic nations will have something to prove, Italy are improving all the time and the French will be out for revenge.

I am also fully supportive of Brian Ashton and the rest of his coaching staff. You can’t argue with the fact that they did a fantastic job in this campaign. The clear-the-air meeting after the South African pool game was important and Brian really took a central role in that – his management skills were A1. He is the man who makes the decisions and he really got the squad to pull together. He has only been in the job for a few months and I think he should be given a run at it.

So it is now time to relax in the Jacuzzi and focus my efforts on Bristol’s campaign. Thanks for taking the time to read the blog and I hope to bring you more instalments soon.

This has been the most incredible tournament. Now, a couple of days later I feel ready to talk about the final.

With VU running trips to the World Cup I had to be upbeat about England’s chances in the months before the tournament – it was not really in my interest to tell people that it was not worth booking anything after the quarters because England would be on the Eurostar home. However, even the World Champion optimist would have been hard pushed to say England would be in the final, and ultimately a bit unlucky to lose it. There is no doubt that the whole England squad did us proud and it has been the most amazing six weeks of sporting excellence.

I think the video ref probably got the try decision correct. If you are not 100 per cent sure then you cannot give it and one of the pictures in the papers today suggests that Cueto was nudging the line. World Cups really can be decided by millimetres. There was a certain amount of nervous tension in the atmosphere at the Stade de France and I think the players felt it – that probably did not help in making this a great game. At the end of it England just made a few too many mistakes and it upsets me to say it that South Africa were worthy winners (I did tip them at the start,shame I did not put any money on them!). Later in this blog I will give out a few Ubogu awards – I bet you can’t wait – but one thing I think we can all agree on is that England exceeded expectations.

VU has had 1600 clients in France (and on two occasions Wales) during the tournament and I think physically I feel more knackered than I did actually playing in a World Cup. This weekend was the VU final and all my training peaked for this moment! On the Friday night we enjoyed a pre-match warm-up in Paris with a few beers and some fine wine. We were able to catch the Argentina v France game on a TV. What a great effort from the Pumas.

We had the ‘Bath Mafia’ over in Paris. This included De Glanville, Hall, Guscott, Robinson and Adebayo. That was a great treat for the 300 fans in the VU party. The ‘Bath Mafia’ are great at getting free drinks out of me – I just hope it is all tax deductible. The Bath Mafia was actually boosted by a paying guest. Ben Clarke was out here entertaining clients. That was a bonus for me – having a former rugby legend in the party who was actually paying his way!

After the game on Saturday night it was time to drown our sorrows. It was back to VU HQ – Carrs Irish Bar. The singing was led by Bath legend Dave Egerton – he has got some great moves for an older man! We were out in the street singing and dancing, God knows what it would have been like if we had won.

You really are not going to believe the next statement but I actually called it a night without going on to the nightclub where the England players, and even the next in line to the Throne, were. I think after six weeks of hard work I suddenly realised that was the end of it and collapsed. No more phone calls day and night from people desperate for tickets. No more suicidal calls from clients due out for the weekend crying because they suddenly realised they had double booked an important family commitment (yes that really did happen) and no more sleepless nights worrying that everything goes smoothly (and I like to think it did).

Well I might have a few days off and then it is time to prepare for the Fight Night, Hatton’s Las Vegas trip and of course the Six Nations. Oh and I think Christmas is in the middle of all that somewhere.

Well done England and congratulations to South Africa. Thanks to my fellow blog master Ronnie Regan who will post more up here and look out for more blogs from me. Now where are we meant to be in four years time?

THE UBOGU RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007 AWARDS

Best English Player – The pack as a unit but if we need to single out then Sheridan.

Biggest Surprise Package – Although Argentina took many of the headlines they have been knocking on the door for a while. I think Fiji came from nowhere and shocked the world

Best Game – No contest Australia v England, terrific

Biggest Night – Marseille after the Australia game in a nightclub with the England boys and a rather sore head in the morning

VU Party Guest – Paul Baines, joined me for all the games – how does he do it?

I am no Barry Norman when it comes to choosing films so that might explain why today’s choice was Transformers. Not the greatest film in the world, but it didn’t take too much concentration.

I also did a press conference today, but rest assured I save all the best stuff for the blog. In fact I see it is so good that journalists are using all the best quotes from my blog for their articles.. When I pack the game up I think I might become a sports hack, I have been finding out how easy it is.

Looking at the game we know we have got the toughest of challenges, but this squad has belief. We have enjoyed being the underdogs and it is no secret we are still second favourites. To me this would be a bigger achievement than 2003. Then we were seen as the number one team. Coming to France this time we were ranked at number seven and then we had a very poor start. But against the odds we are now in the final against the Springboks and our belief continues.

It was interesting seeing the quotes from Eddie Jones, one of the South African coaches. He seemed interested in my age and suggested I could not take on another big game. That is his opinion and to be honest I like to be doubted, it gives you fuel and those comments have been logged in the memory bank – I might be old but I have not lost my memory. Don’t forget it is Mike Catt who is the Granddaddy in this squad, I am just a boy compared to him. At Bristol I am the real baby, there are at least four players older than me.

John Smit is a great player to match up to and I am looking forward to seeing him again. I know he said that I have said more to him in our matches than his wife has in 10 years. I will make sure I have a chat with him on Saturday as well, I might even ask for his phone number so we can keep the conversation going.

I can’t reveal our tactics, but one thing I will say is that the Springboks don’t have many weaknesses. The ones we have noticed we will be looking to exploit, but I couldn’t possibly tell you what they are.

Here is my latest blog scoop - I will not be retiring. Why would I want to do that when I am enjoying it so much? There is life in the old dog yet and these are amazing days. Saturday will certainly be a bit different to the 2003 final for me – and here is my second scoop. In 2003 I was sat in the stands with a bottle of the energy drink Gatorade because I was not part of the 22. What the cameras might not have noticed is that we all had vodka inside the bottles. The vodka will be waiting until after the game this time.

So what is my motivation – obviously it is free electrical equipment. The semi-final win resulted in a nice windfall for me. A mate of mine Graham Eagleson from Dereham Rugby Club promised me a 50 inch plasma if we won the semi. That’s why I got a bit emotional at the end because I was picturing that telly in my front room. I am now going to play my heart out for a DVD player if we win the big one. Another stalwart of the VU party – Steve Jones – has loaned me a Bentley for two weeks and Peter Harrison from Furniture Village has given me a sofa for getting to the final. I will only enjoy sitting on it if we win.

So now the countdown really begins. Thanks again for all your support and I can assure you that everyone will be doing everything they can in the Stade de France tomorrow. This is not the end of the blog – there will be more after the match. Keep on cheering and power us to victory wherever you are.

Have you recovered? I won’t deny that Saturday was the most emotional I have been at the end of a game. To beat France in the Rugby World Cup Semi-Final at the Stade de France was incredible. Everything that has gone on in the build up to the tournament and in the group stages just made this win even sweeter. It might have looked like I was crying at the end, but I think I just had something in my eye. Emotion can be a good thing and I think we have used it as a squad all the way. Of course I was part of the squad in 2003 but I have played a much more active role in this campaign making it extra special.

People have been talking about the moments of the game. Josh’s early try, Joe’s tap tackle or Jonny’s kicks. Of course the true rugby expert will see my charge down as the moment that changed the game! It hit me square in the belly. I have had a few people say they have never seen me run so fast and I really did enjoy that moment.

A lot of people ask me what I say during the game, and I can assure you that I have not stopped talking to the opposition. However I think a few of the French front row were finding it hard to understand me at the weekend.

I knew we had won it when we went four points ahead. Our defence has been so solid and there was no way we were going to let them over for a try in those last few minutes. Defence wins games and a lot of credit must go to our coach Mike Ford for the way we are keeping the tries out.

When we got back to the changing room it was time for a bit of Kenny Rogers, line dancing and karaoke. Talking of changing rooms another great move for us was winning the toss which gave us the home changing room at the Stade de France. When we walked past the away team’s changing room I knew that the French would not enjoy being in there away from their comfort zone. It gave us another edge along with the fantastic support both within the stadium and throughout the whole city.

We have always believed we will do well in the Rugby World Cup even when everyone else has doubted us. Our mottos are ‘Not Without a Fight’ and ‘Shock The World’. Right now we are doing both – and more. A strong motivation was that we did not want to be playing on Friday for a bronze medal. Some might have seen that as a successful tournament but we are defending champions and success for us will be to win it.

This England squad has become like a club team. There are no cliques, no them and us and no back biting. We have bonded like a club team and I suppose a lot of that is down to the criticism we have faced. We have faced that head on as a team and so far we have come out on top.

There is no need for really hard training now. Today is a day off, tomorrow will be some walkthroughs and lineout work, Wednesday is some more physical work including scrummaging, Thursday is another day off, Friday is a bit more light work and then it is time for THE game on Saturday.

I will talk a bit more about the Springboks in a post later this week but one thing is for sure this is not the same England team they played a month ago.

I caught up with Victor and the VU lot for lunch on Sunday in Paris and it was great to have a chat will real rugby fans. It was fantastic to see so many of his clients were really having the trip of a lifetime. People like Victor should be paying us more to keep winning which is keeping their clients happy.

Thanks again for all your support – and sorry I can’t get you extra tickets for the Rugby World Cup Final, I only get four myself!

I would put down tomorrow’s game as the biggest of my career. Despite last week’s performance I would say we were still underdogs. However, even though the French have got home advantage that brings with it extra pressure. As we do with all opponents we have spotted a few weaknesses but I am not going to let you know what those are the day before the game. It was hardly a secret last week that we knew the Aussies would struggle in the scrum but with the French it is not quite so obvious.

It is great to have an unchanged team, the first time for a long time. Fantastic for me to be starting again and I really can’t wait to get stuck into the game. This season it is 2-1 to the French so let’s see if we can even it up on Saturday night in Paris.

A lot of the publicity appears to be around Chabal and there is no doubt he is a good player. However all of us have come up against him both on the international circuit and in the league and we feel that we can more than match the danger. It is great for his profile to have long hair and a big beard. In fact I would consider growing my hair and facial hair if there was a contract on offer from a razor company. Around £1 million would do it for me.

The atmosphere is going to be fantastic and the noise will be amazing. I have heard that there will be as many as 40,000 English fans in the stadium which is going to mean a hell of a lot to us. I know we have got the performance inside us and we are just two games away from remaining World Champions.

I thought I would bore you today with a few things I do on the day of a game. I get up about 10am when it is an evening kick-off. Breakfast is the big meal of the day for me and is likely to be a bit of salmon some eggs and beans. I will then go and chill out for a bit in my room and maybe catch a DVD with The Dominator (see previous posts). There has been a lot of talk about the team listening to Kenny Rogers and a few have been singing his songs during training. However I build up to the game with a bit of gangster rap – as many of you will know I am a very ‘street’ person. I will nibble on a bit of pasta for lunch and then at about 6.30ish we will leave for the stadium. There will be a bit of work out on the pitch with Graham Rowntree our forwards coach, particularly on the lineout. Then it is into the changing room put on the England jersey and start to cherish the moment. I will try and get a bit more of my gangster rap going and then it is out onto the pitch. I am one for singing the National Anthem, although probably not in tune. I hope that gives you a little idea about what I will be up to tomorrow.

Vic has invited me over to join the VU lot for a bit of Sunday lunch so I probably will do that, as long as it is not burgers and chips – you can have too much of a good thing.