KEY POINTS:
PARIS - Ben Kay believes a win for England in Sunday's World Cup final against South Africa would top their success in lifting the trophy four years ago in Australia.
"I honestly believe that if we win at the weekend, it'll mean more to me than last time, because of the trough that we've been through since winning that World Cup, personally and as a team," said Kay, a member of the England side that beat Australia in the 2003 final.
England endured a dreadful run of results between this edition and the last, winning just 16 out of 40 Tests - a run that left few thinking they could become the first team in history to win back-to-back World Cups.
This contrasted sharply with their standing four years ago.
"A lot of the guys said after the '03 final that is was an overwhelming sense of relief to win as we had gone into the tournament as hot favourites after beating New Zealand and Australia in their respective countries," said second row Kay.
"To have come into this tournament with everyone telling us we had absolutely no hope, right up until the last couple of weeks, if we were to win it would be a phenomenal achievement."
He added: "A lot of the guys have been surprised. When people write you off as much as you guys (the press) have done you start to believe it slightly. But there's been no division within the camp.
"We've perhaps not played the most attractive style of rugby but it's winning rugby and that's all that's important."
Kay is well-placed to compare the England sides of then and now ahead of this weekend's final against South Africa.
In 2003 he partnered Leicester team-mate Martin Johnson, now retired but then England's captain, in the second row during the team's dramatic 20-17 World Cup final win against Australia - a match where extra-time might not have been required had Kay held a try-scoring pass.
At this competition he is now the only England player left in the squad, following wing Josh Lewsey's hamstring injury during last Sunday's 14-9 semifinal win over hosts France, to have played every minute of every match.
England's second fixture of the tournament saw them thrashed 36-0 by the Springboks - their record World Cup defeat - last month at the Stade de France, also the venue for the final.
"To be honest it does seem like a long time ago," said Kay. "Perhaps as a squad, and it is easy to say with hindsight, but were we really prepared to play South Africa in terms of the onslaught that was going to come to us?
"That was to do with the previous two years, not the run up to the World Cup."
But the 31-year-old forward said the scale of that loss had helped spark England's recovery.
"It was a bit like the old addicts' reaching their lowest point. We had a fairly frank meeting, everyone got points off their chest and we didn't leave the room until we had a direction to go forward.
"It was real backs against the wall stuff. Fair play to everyone involved in the set up, everyone has fought their way out of a corner and proved how much it means to play for England.
"We were fortunate to have a tough pool, as Australia (whom England beat 12-10 in the quarter-finals) found to their cost.
"We know that we had a terrible day at the office the last time we played South Africa and I'm sure that will be a spur to a lot of the guys to prove that it wasn't the correct result."
- AFP
