Catt must use a last life

13 April 2012

Mike Catt's charmed World Cup odyssey will be all washed up by the Mediterranean today unless he helps dredge a victory from the depths of a sinking campaign.

More than 13 years after his first Test, England's oldest player has been brought back for the umpteenth and possibly final time in the hope he can somehow find something from somewhere in Marseille to prevent the holders being sent home and Australia advancing to next weekend's semi-finals in Paris.

Comeback king: Catt has been restored to the side, possibly for a final time

His restoration at inside centre at the age of 36 will offer the Red Rose army converging on France's second city a ray of hope, that the renewal of an old partnership might conceivably rescue this World Cup as it rescued the last one.

Catt may be on his last legs but his appearance as a half-time substitute to ride shotgun for Jonny Wilkinson against Wales in Brisbane four years ago pulled England back from a half-time deficit.

Seven days later, the presence of the old fellow had such a calming influence that his junior partner could concentrate on picking the French off in the semis with eight goals.

This afternoon they will start an England match in tandem for the first time since then. The Wilkinson-Catt axis at fly half and inside centre was always the preferred one for this tournament but how ironic it should come about by chance rather than by clever strategic planning.

The accident which eliminated Andy Farrell and Olly Barkley's sudden dip in form conspired to give Catt a reprieve and a 73rd cap he neither expected nor deserved.

To all intents and purposes, his career had been buried in the ruins of the shocking display against South Africa three weeks ago.

There ought to have been no way back from that but the povertystricken nature of this England team is such that a return by default is always on the cards.

Once Farrell had gone down, Catt was always likely to be granted another opportunity given that he has long been one of head coach Brian Ashton's trusted lieutenants.

"I don't suppose he had a choice," Catt said, acknowledging that he had all but fallen off the radar. "He had to pick me. I know this could be my final international so I'll make sure I give it a real go."

Barkley was never going to be restored, irrespective of the thigh damage which prompted his removal from the bench, but there was an alternative in Toby Flood.

Yet while the Newcastle centre, something of an invisible man since replacing his club colleague Jamie Noon three weeks ago, fills the gap among the substitutes, Catt prepares for a final throw of a wellworn dice.

He said: "We all realised how horribly wrong things went against South Africa and I know when I've played a bad international. I admit I didn't perform, as the team didn't that day except for Jason Robinson.

"But two days in this game is a long time. Things happen which mean you can go from No 4 to No 1 very quickly. Now that we have a much better understanding of how we want to play the game, being outside Wilko will make life a hell of a lot easier."

England could not have taken a more tortuous route towards reuniting the pair. During the last 18 months, they have tried no fewer than 14 different fly half/inside centre combinations, half since Wilkinson's Test return this year.

This afternoon's, therefore, will be the 15th, leaving the Wallabies to recall how the same pair applied the kicks which won the final four years ago — Wilkinson's drop followed some 30 seconds later by Catt's gleeful hoof into the crowd after his arrival as an extra-time substitute.

None of the current Australians may care to remember, but Catt also knows all about knocking them out in a quarter-final, as England's full back in Cape Town 12 years ago on the occasion of Rob Andrew's last-minute drop goal.

The Wallabies were then fading champions, the last holders to be eliminated before the semis, and now the boot is on the other foot as a similar fate awaits England.

On the evidence of the last four weeks, it is hard to imagine any other outcome. Ashton pays tribute to his players for fighting their way out of the pit but without explaining why they got there.

"We just didn't have any structure to our game against South Africa and didn't know what we were doing," Catt said. "The understanding wasn't there but that was three weeks ago. There has been a huge shift since then. We seem to be back on track and going in the right direction."

A scratchy win over Samoa followed by an unconvincing one over Tonga indicates, however, that they are still a disturbing way short of where they ought to be at this stage of the tournament.

That a win over a team ranked four places above them would justify fitting into the 'giant-killing' category shows how far England have fallen and they have done nothing to suggest they are capable of bridging the gap.

There are areas of hope, particularly that Andrew Sheridan will batter another Aussie tighthead, Guy Shepherdson, into submission just as he did with his two predecessors at Twickenham two years ago.

Trevor Woodman, a World Cup winner four years ago now living and coaching in Sydney, warned yesterday that the Wallabies will use 'illegal' tactics to counter the threat and urged referee Alain Rolland of Ireland to be vigilant.

England will hope, too, that their back row show Berrick Barnes that a World Cup quarter-final is no place for a novice fly half and that the holders find enough technical proficiency to keep a check on Australia's strike runners, dangerous enough to be able to afford to start without the leading try scorer in the competition, Drew Mitchell.

If it comes down to experience, the old champions will win it hands down, with old being the operative word. For this match they have brought back a 36-year-old centre, a 35-year-old hooker (Mark Regan) and a 34-year-old lock (Simon Shaw).

Man for man, the English pack is, on average, five years older than the Wallabies at 31.

Despite a wet weather forecast, all logic points to an Australia win and the end of the reign in the rain.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in