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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.

Bit of a different offering today – I am going to include a few VU clients on the posting. Last weekend was probably the busiest ever for us. Not only THE match of the tournament, but we also had a large group on a classic train from London to Cardiff for that other big match – New Zealand v France.

Marseille was just incredible; I am still trying to get over it. England were better than their two point win – I just don’t know where that performance came from. It is a result that has transformed this Rugby World Cup. I thought the forwards were just a different class. My mate and fellow blogger Ronnie Regan put in a fantastic performance and I am glad so many of you are enjoying his postings.

On Sunday Ronnie and his fellow hooker Lee Mears came to our beautiful villa in Marseille to join the VU lot for a bit of a celebration. It was great hearing from the boys and you can tell that this is a tight squad. I don’t think Ronnie had any right to criticise my lack of training in his last blog. I can’t wait to see what he looks like seven years after retiring.

Just gearing up now for the semi final weekend and another big one for me and the VU team. This has been an incredible tournament and just keeps getting better. I can’t decide if the French victory was more surprising that the English one but it sets up a classic for Paris.

As I said at the start this is going to be a bit of a different blog. Because even I could not be in two places at once I could not join the trip on the Northern Belle from London to Cardiff. What I did was get some of the comments from those on the train and they are bellow.

We had arranged for All Black legend Justin Marshall to be on board and I suspect it was a very long journey home for him. So here are some of the comments and let’s hope the game on Saturday is half as good as the quarters. France v England, Rugby World Cup 2007 – who would have thought it.

The first quote has to be from Mr Marshall. Wisely we spoke to him before the games had kicked off and it looks like he should have put his money where his mouth is as far as England are concerned. I don’t think he was up for going on the record after the defeat!

 ‘Everyone is on England’s case at the moment but at the end of the day, people love the underdogs to do well so the support is still great for the England team.  If England go on and win today, the match tonight between France and the All Blacks will have so much more bearing for all the people on the trip as England will play them next. England has some fantastic players in the team despite the negative comments and I fancy them to do well but let’s hope not too well!’ 

 Here are some more thoughts from those on the trip:

Louis Jones – ‘It was really good fun being on the train with people listening to the England versus Australia match on their portable radios and cheers going up and down the carriages. Arrived in plenty of time to have a few drinks in Cardiff and everyone was well looked after.’

Ben – ‘As a Munster supporter I have come here to really enjoy the whole package even if Ireland are not around.  It’s a great way to meet people on the train and chat to fellow rugby fans in some really flashy surroundings. There was a great atmosphere on the train on the way and back which may have been to do with the fine wine and champagne on offer!’

James – ‘I just hope that it is a repeat of the 1999 semi final! Shame not to meet Victor but I assume he is away sunning himself in Marseilles and I don’t blame him!’

Bill – ‘The match was great, really physical but at the end of the day, I was sad not to see Ireland in there with the other northern hemisphere teams that are left in the competition. 

I always knew we would do it. This is one of the most solid squads I have ever had the pleasure to be with. We knew we were in this together and our backs were against the wall. What we had was belief and passion and importantly we did not want to let our fantastic fans down. I think we have shown what we knew we were capable of. The belief is still here and I feel this squad is more together than the one we had four years ago. I just can’t wait until Saturday.

I must say I loved being at the centre of controversy leading up to the England Australia match and I did not even open my mouth! We always knew their scrummaging was a weakness and we would be out to exploit it. When they started bleating about my inclusion then we really knew we had them on the run. It was like we had put the fear of death into them before the game even started – what a position to be in!  They said my selection showed intent – what better way to give me fuel for the game and boost my confidence. We then went out there and scrummaged them back to Australia, what a feeling.

I must say they were a bit chirpy in the front row when they got the first two penalties following early scrums. I made them feel a little worse by telling them to calm down and reminding them they had another 75 minutes of hell to come.

The scrum will still be important on Saturday but we know the French are much better than the Aussies in this department. The French pulled off a great result at the weekend but then so did we and I really think we are getting better and better. We are battle hardened and have been in a knock-out tournament for three weeks. It has worked in our favour to be under pressure and the same will happen when we play the French on their own soil.

We had a debriefing today and one area we looked at is how we dominated but only won by two points. We highlighted that we have to take more advantage of the gaps and overlaps.

I have had more than 70 texts since the game, I did not realise I had so many friends and relatives, let’s hope I get the same again on Saturday.

I must admit to having a couple of drinks after the game. All the boys were invited to an amazing £6 million yacht, and I have no idea who it belonged to. We had to take our shoes off because it had a cream carpet, unfortunately some red wine found itself on the carpet. Mind you if you can afford £6 million for a yacht you can afford a cleaning bill!

After that I met up with Victor and some of the VU lot at a club in the town. Vic was looking bigger than ever. I am told he now has a bike – he just wants to get on it and do some training.

Nice to have some comments. I am a big fan of Spongebob (my kids watch it). I have just told Andy he looks like Patrick but he seems a bit confused. I don’t think I will bother telling Lawrence about the comments on him.

Keep supporting us and thanks for helping us through to this stage – there is more to come.

A quick posting today as we are just a couple of hours away from what could well be the game of the tournament. The only comment I will pass about the match is on the controversy surrounding my mate and fellow blogger Mark Ronnie Regan. I know he has purposely not posted anything up about it pre match because he doesn’t want to cause any trouble before the game. I must say that it is amazing that the opposition should complain about who the other team has picked. Ronnie is no angel but then who is when the play in the front row! All this would have done was motivate him even more, although I am sure he is aware that the ref will be keeping a close eye on him.

It is fantastic to be out in Marseille for this England Australia quarter final. Last night was a great way to warm up with a fantastic dinner at the beautiful Petit Nice right in the heart of Marseille and overlooking the Med.

David Campese is out her with the VU party and was a fantastic dinner companion for us last night, even if he is Australian. One of the moments of the night was when a young kid came up to me and said “excuse me Mr Campese can I have your authograph.” Last time I looked in the mirror I did not think I looked that Australian!

There has been good news for me recently when I won a battle with the great British train authorities which has allowed a classic train I chartered to travel back to London from the quarter final in Cardiff tonight. At one stage the people who were once called British Rail said that no trains would be running from Cardiff to London after the match because of engineering work. That left my group on the classic train with the prospect of a bus journey home. However after a letter writing and media campaign in Wales I got the decision reversed something I never managed as a player. Even the Daily Mail did an article about my triumph. I suppose it will make some of the Irish fans on that trip a bit happier!

Finally I have heard that some guys blogging on the BBC website have started a game called Ubogu where they try to say my name as many times as they can without taking a breath. I think this is taking BBC journalism to new heights. Anyway the record is 72. See if you can beat it and come on England!