Second final win would mean more to Kay

BEN KAY could become a double world champion on Saturday night and he believes it would mean more to him than four years ago when England conquered the rugby planet.

Against all odds, England’s appearance in a second successive World Cup final sees Leicester lock Kay and 2003 colleagues like Jason Robinson, Jonny Wilkinson and Phil Vickery on the verge of making history.

No country has ever successfully defended the world title, yet victory over favourites South Africa at Stade de France would see England hold the Webb Ellis Trophy for another four years.

And 31-year-old Kay, an ever-present during England’s 2007 campaign, has no doubt where the current red rose vintage deserves to be ranked.

He said: “I honestly believe if we win at the weekend, it will mean more to me than last time around because of the trough we’ve been through since winning that World Cup, personally and as a team.

“I think a lot of guys said after the 2003 final that the feeling was an overwhelming sense of relief.

“That was because we had gone into the tournament as hot favourites, having beaten New Zealand and Australia in their respective countries a few months earlier.

“When people write you off as much as we’ve been written off, you do start to believe it slightly.

“It just shows the character of the guys that everyone has stuck together and given it their best shot.

“Perhaps we haven’t played the most attractive style of rugby, but it is winning rugby, and that’s all that is important.”

Having been crushed 36-0 by the Springboks, England then emerged unscathed from physically punishing encounters with Samoa and Tonga that meant they arrived in the knockout rounds ready to meet their quarter-final victims Australia head on.

Kay added: “We know we had a terrible day at the office the last time we played South Africa, and I am sure that will be a spur to a lot of the guys.

“We had a fairly frank meeting after the South Africa game. Everyone got points off their chest, and we didn’t leave the room until we had a direction to go forward.

“In some ways we are very fortunate to have had such a tough pool.

“New Zealand and Australia have found out to their cost that if you breeze through your pool, suddenly you get a hard game.

“We’ve had hard games all the way through this tournament, and we have become battle-hardened.

“I don’t think it is any real surprise that two teams who came from a very difficult pool have made it through to the final.”

If England are to win the final, Kay and second-row partner Simon Shaw have major roles to play in the contest against revered Springboks lineout pair Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha.

Widely regarded as the best second-row duo in world rugby, Matfield and Botha will be crucial to South Africa’s title ambitions.

Kay said: “They don’t give you much space to win your own ball. They are very effective on their own ball, and it’s not a particularly complicated lineout — they’ve got very athletic jumpers.

“They don’t try and read you too much and get caught on the floor. They know who is going to go in the air, and they get in the air and cause you a lot of problems.

“On occasions, we’ve driven pretty well, and the last two weeks we’ve shown we can stop teams driving against us very effectively. The South Africans are a different kettle of fish.

“It is an area they look to dominate matches in, and obviously we will have to step it up. We will probably look to compete a bit harder in the air than we did against France in the semi-final.”

England head coach Brian Ashton is due to announce his line-up for the final this afternoon.

With wing Josh Lewsey ruled out by a hamstring injury sustained during the semi-final win against France, Ashton looks set to hand Leicester centre Dan Hipkiss a starting place.

That would mean Mathew Tait moving from midfield to the wing, where he finished the France game, although Ashton could also consider recalling for Mark Cueto.