I am just back from Dubai where the VU Ltd party saw some fantastic 7s action- and what a great weekend. In fact it was a bit like the World Cup. There was plenty of drinking, meeting up with old rugby pals and some great rugby. There was even a disputed England try which was disallowed and stopped us progressing to the finals. The only difference was that New Zealand decided they might as well win this tournament.

This was the first time I have take a VU trip to the Dubai tournament and we will certainly be doing it again. Austin Healey, Will Greenwood, Scott and Gavin Hastings, Jason Leonard and Chris Sheasby were just some of the names out there. A few of them played in an invitational tournament which runs alongside the main event, and the former England boys won it. I must say they would not persuade me to pull the shirt on again for 7s - I think I would last about 45 seconds now.

 You know it has been a good trip when happy clients say they want to book straight away for next year. I have always loved the Hong Kong 7s and it is great to have Dubai on our calendar now as well. The great thing about Dubai is that the bars do shut at 3am, unlike Hong Kong which is 24/7. The early closing (believe me that does feel early compared to some of our trips) gives us a bit of time to prepare for the next day!

I have really been clocking up the air miles recently. You may remember that my last blog was about a few problems getting to South Africa. I had a few problems getting back too because of delays so in the end I went directly to Dubai without coming back home. Luckily I had packed a few extra pairs of pants.

I am only back in the UK for a couple of days and then it is off to Las Vegas for the Hatton fight. I can't wait to take a VU Limited party out there - I love the city and I am sure our group will be up for a party. There are 60 of us, I would hope at least one of us has a bit of luck on the tables.

Because I have been a bit out of the loop I have only just heard that Ronnie Regan had a few problems with his club Bristol over his insistence to play for the Barbarians on Saturday. I think it is great that he stuck to his guns and said he wanted to play for the Baa Baas. It is a great rugby institution and even though I was a bit busy in Dubai to watch the game I heard it was a fantastic occasion.

After the Las Vegas trip we have got a bit of a Christmas break and then it is busy preparing for the Six Nations. Interest is greater than ever thanks to England's return to form.

I will try and update you from Las Vegas, keep your fingers crossed for Hatton and for my luck on the tables!

Sorry about the wait since the last blog. After the World Cup I have been walking around like a zombie. What an amazing six weeks, but since then I don’t think I have made it past 9pm at night.

I am trying out a new font for the post-World Cup blog so I hope you like it. There will be more updates before during and after events like the Mayweather and Hatton fight in Las Vegas and the Dubai Sevens as the end of November. Then there is the RBS 6 Nations and even the Lions in South Africa in 2009 – so plenty to talk about.

For someone who was said to be like a rabbit caught in the headlights he did a good job getting a team labelled as a bunch of no-hopers within inches of winning a Rugby World Cup (maybe it was a try). I am sure there are coaches in Australia, New Zealand, Wales and Scotland who would have been prepared to be called any names if they got their team to a World Cup final. I suspect not many of them have had to put up with the sort of comments levelled at Ashton since the tournament.

Since the World Cup other than sleeping I have been doing a bit of catching up. I sorted out Ronnie and Matt Dawson to appear at a function for those nice people at Nationwide. I have also been putting the finishing touches to my new newspaper. It will be going out to my clients, but if you want a copy drop me a line with your name and address to info@vultd.co.uk

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.