In the quarterfinal against Australia and again in the semi-final with France on Saturday, England played with 100 per cent conviction, but I feel they will have to up that another 30 per cent for Saturday's final against South Africa in Paris where anything goes.

The form books goes completely out of the window when it comes to the showpiece and that is where the added experience of England's World Cup winners of four years ago comes into play. There is no balance of power, it's all about who performs on the day.

There were several aspects of the England performance which impressed me in Paris on Saturday, notably the desire that each and every player showed to the cause. You could see just how much they all wanted the prize at the end of it and, ultimately, it was their strength of togetherness and unity which saw them through.

I was particularly proud of Nick Easter and Andy Gomarsall, who both had great games. Nick is becoming more and more accustomed to the international arena as I knew he would, while Andy is getting his just rewards for all of his hard work in re-building his career when all seemed lost. Although we miss them here, watching them perform so well on a stage such as that, gives me huge pride.

We are, of course, hoping they return as soon as possible to strengthen our squad ahead of what will be a busy autumn and winter period. One of the things we need to sort out is our poor away form at the moment, which culminated in a 25-10 defeat to an experienced Bath side on Saturday.

The boys didn't play as well as they can and will need to lift their game when Wasps visit the Stoop this Saturday (20th October), kick-off 3.00pm.

Copy courtesy of City AM.