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MARSEILLE - When England coach Brian Ashton was faced with yet another injury setback ahead of Saturday's quarter-final with Australia he, like others before him, turned to the ever-dependable option of Mike Catt.
The 36-year-old Catt, who arrived at the tournament as first-choice centre before dropping down the pecking order to fourth, was duly installed ahead of young guns Olly Barkley and Toby Flood as Jonny Wilkinson's right-hand man.
"For a game like this, well he's just the right choice," Ashton said on Friday.
The move was remarkably similar to that of Clive Woodward four years ago when he threw Catt on as a halftime replacement in the quarter-final against Wales and watched him play a large part in turning a 10-3 deficit into a 28-17 win.
Catt retained his place for the semi-final victory over France then came off the bench in the final and was the last player to touch the ball when he kicked it into touch to seal England's extra-time victory over Australia.
For Catt, in and out of the England set-up since his debut 12 years ago, this was just the latest in a long line of recalls and takes his tally of World Cup quarter-finals to four and games against Australia to a round dozen.
"I always said never say never and two days in rugby is a long time - things happen," he said.
"It's been pretty disappointing, personally, over the last four weeks so it's another chance to get out there and get back on form."
Catt's tournament seemed over when he delivered a patchy display at first five-eighths in the 36-0 defeat by South Africa and he was honest in his analysis of where England were at that stage.
"We didn't have any structure to our game, whereas South Africa had a very good structure and stuck to it," said Port Elizabeth-born Catt.
"I think all of us realise that things went horribly wrong. We chatted about it and things started to get better against Samoa and Tonga. The way we're playing now plays into my hands a bit more. We are trying to put a bit more width out wide.
"If you go back to South Africa, we were chucking eight guys into rucks and the ball was coming back and there was no one to pass to. So we kicked it to four guys standing at the back."
On that forgettable night Catt was playing alongside first five-eighths rookie Andy Farrell but on Saturday he links up again, for the first time in four years, with Wilkinson.
"I suppose playing outside Wilko there will be a lot better understanding of how we want to play the game and that will make it a lot easier," he said.
Catt's first taste of last-eight action came in 1995 when he was fullback in the side that beat Australia with Rob Andrew's late drop-goal.
After being steamrollered by Jonah Lomu in the semi he was back again as a replacement in the Springbok defeat in 1999 before his kicking masterclass off the bench in Brisbane in 2003.
"If I can kick it as well as I did that day I'll be quite happy," he said.
- REUTERS
