England veteran Mike Catt desperately hopes he can recover from a groin problem in time for next weekend’s World Cup final.
Brian Ashton’s defending champions reached the final with a 14-9 victory over France in Paris last night.
And Catt, a winner in Sydney four years ago, will hope for good news after experiencing pain last night and admitted: "I would not want to miss next weekend for anything".
He said: "My only slight worry at the moment is my groin.
"I came off with it in some pain. It was enough of a worry for the medical staff to advise me not to drink last night which was a bit of a downer but I’m sure there will be plenty of time for that after the weekend. It is the smallest of sacrifices really. At the moment we are hoping that it is a neural problem rather than a muscular one.
"As for the obvious question of who we fancy facing in the final next weekend: we do not care right now. That is not for us to worry about.
"All that matters is that we are through and we will find out tonight (Sunday) who we will be meeting.
"We will make sure we recover properly over the next couple of days and take it from there. There were obviously some exhausted and drained bodies in the dressing room last night but Josh Lewsey apart – we are not sure how serious his leg injury is – everybody else looks as if they will be fine.
"Fingers crossed, that includes me too. I would not want to miss next weekend for anything.
"We’ve come this far and it has been some journey, as I said – and I want to be there to complete it."
Regarding the magnitude of last night’s performance, Catt said: "It was not that long ago – four weeks in fact – that we were a shambles against South Africa, getting embarrassingly hammered by 36-0 and being written off by everyone. Even two weeks ago we were still being written off.
"Now? It might be time to take us seriously.
"I will freely admit that it was the most nervy game in which I have ever been involved. And at my age I’ve been involved in a few nervy games."
