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PARIS - Phil Vickery is not a shouter nor a man prone to extravagant statements.
But, when the England captain speaks in the soft Cornish burr which belies both his bulk and his nickname of "Raging Bull", people listen.
"Phil is by nature a fairly quietly spoken person," said coach Brian Ashton this week when he talked about his captain's influence on last Sunday's semifinal win over France.
"But for a prop forward he thinks pretty deeply about what he is going to say and always comes up with the right thing.
"He made a very moving speech to the team on Friday at seven o'clock, only for five minutes. It was about what it meant to him and what it should mean to everyone in the room about playing in a World Cup semifinal.
"I can only assume with the performance that it had some sort of effect.
"From my point of view, and from the way I deal as a coach with the team, he is my ideal sort of captain."
There is no question that Vickery is passionate about rugby and particularly about playing for England and, after his career was threatened by a serious back injury, he is relishing another opportunity.
Normally circumspect with the media, he loosened up for a few minutes last week and gave a brief glimpse of the fire still burning inside.
"I'm captain whether people like it or loathe it but playing for my country is a huge thing for me," he said, before inploring his team mates to "sacrifice body and soul" for the cause.
After the quarterfinal win over Australia Vickery talked of the squad's guts and "sheer bloody-mindedness" and he is as devoted to his team mates as they are to him.
"I'm very proud of the guys, in years to come you'll look back at games like this and I can tell you there are some absolute heroes in my team, people I've very proud to have played alongside," he said.
Vickery, now 31, made his debut on the "Tour of Hell" to the southern hemisphere in 1998, became a front-row regular for England and played all three tests for the 2001 British Lions in Australia, before missing the 2003 Six Nations with back troubles.
He recovered in time to play a key role in the World Cup, appearing in every match and captaining the side against Uruguay.
More back problems kept him out of the 2005 Lions trip to New Zealand but a third operation enabled him to return after a year's absence against South Africa last November.
Still in the wars he missed two Six Nations games this year after being punched in a club game and suffered further concussion when colliding with team mate Simon Shaw in August.
His third World Cup campaign has also been a roller-coaster affair. He was banned for two games for tripping in the first match against the United States and watched from the sidelines as Matt Stevens performed admirably in his place.
Ashton rewarded Stevens with the starting role against Tonga when Vickery was available again and though there were complaints from outside the camp not a negative word passed Vickery's lips.
Back in the number three shirt for the Australia and France games he has been similarly uncomplaining when replaced by Stevens early in the second half.
He is the ultimate team man but, if he were to hoist the Webb Ellis Cup on Sunday, nobody would begrudge him that moment of personal glory.
- REUTERS
