KEY POINTS:
PARIS - When Mike Catt was steamrollered by Jonah Lomu en route to a 45-29 hammering from New Zealand in the 1995 semi-finals he probably thought his chances of appearing in a World Cup final had disappeared for ever.
Eight years later, however he played a key role in guiding England to the final and was the last player to touch the ball as England triumphed in Sydney.
Now, incredibly, after an all-too-typical selectorial roller-coaster, he is set to start against South Africa on Saturday, and at 36 will be the oldest man to play in a final.
Catt has long since stopped worrying about the vagaries of selection having played in and been dropped from just about every backline position for England since making his 1994 debut.
The current tournament has been a microcosm of his career as he arrived as first-choice inside centre for the opening game against the United States but was dropped after a poor display at first five-eighths in the 36-0 loss to South Africa.
His World Cup, and his international career, looked to have ended on that low note when he was left out of the squad for the next three matches but an injury to Andy Farrell opened the door for a late call-up to start at inside centre against Australia.
He performed well enough to keep his place then produced a man-of-the-match performance in the semi-final win over France when his cool head and solid distribution helped England stay in the game when under immense pressure.
"I've been through enough in my rugby career to believe this is happening. It's about grasping opportunities because they don't come around very often," Catt said this week.
"Five weeks seems like a year ago, it's been crazy. We've changed the way we played, we didn't play to our strengths against South Africa, that was diabolical.
"By the end of the South Africa game we were probably ranked about 18 out of the 20 teams and now we are in the final."
Catt said that England's tortured route to the final had led to a different mentality from four years ago when they won the games they were expected to win to get them there.
"Last time we were firm favourites but this time we are sort of underdogs," he said. "Last time we were six years into the Clive Woodward reign, we had had the Six Nations grand slam, then we went down to New Zealand and Australia and won there.
BUMPY JOURNEY
"The years since then haven't been brilliant for England rugby. We've had a couple of coaches and lost a lot of games. It's been a hell of a journey."
Catt has again linked well with first five-eighths Jonny Wilkinson and said the key was the players' ability to interchange roles.
"We chop and change, it's great and we are able to take the pressure off each other," said Catt, whose introduction as a second-half replacement at inside centre in the 2003 quarter-final against Wales eased the pressure on Wilkinson, turned the game and put England back on course.
"Wilko doesn't like being at first receiver all the time and he has full confidence in me at 10 as I do when he's at 10."
Outside him on Saturday will be Mathew Tait, at 21 the youngest player to appear in a final and who was eight when Catt made his debut.
"He's a hell of a talent, he's been dealt a couple of cruel blows over the last couple of years but he's the future of English rugby," said Catt. "He deserves to be there."
- REUTERS
