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Never Say Never: Phil Vickery, Brian Ashton and Mark Regan face the press
England coach Brian Ashton has revealed that he has received a good luck message from British prime minister Gordon Brown featuring a rousing quotation from Sir Winston Churchill.
Unfortunately, when quizzed, Ashton couldn't remember the exact wording, but 'never have so few shocked so many' - a contortion of one of the great statesman's most famous phrases - would neatly sum up the mood if England were to beat South Africa tomorrow in the World Cup Final.
After all, England were beaten 36-0 by the Springboks in the pool phase. South Africa have scored 33 tries to England's 12 during the tournament. And they have Bryan Habana, rugby's most lethal finisher.
England, however, have acquired a mood at this World Cup which can only be described as serenely composed and modestly confident.
Rarely has there been a more relaxed ambience at a pre-Final press conference than when Ashton, captain Phil Vickery and hooker Mark Regan formed a front row to push their chances of becoming the first nation successfully to defend the Webb Ellis Cup.
Ashton revealed he had also had a message from actor Daniel Craig, the current James Bond, who phoned to say how disappointed he was that he could not be there as he was filming in Lithuania.
"Did he give you a licence to kill?" shouted a hack, at which Vickery burst into spontaneous applause and Ashton stood up as if to go.
"I can't beat that," he whispered.
But if Ashton guides England to the world crown then some might say it would match anything in the fantasy world of 007.
When Ashton accepted the challenge in January England were in desperate straits, struggling with the same old club versus country confrontations and sliding down the official world rankings. Just five weeks ago they appeared hardly to have moved on.
That is what makes the journey from dust to Downing Street so incredible.
Ashton said: "It's fantastic to receive the messages. We've had them from the cricketers and from the soccer guys, a whole variety of people.
"Yes, there is that shock of looking at one and seeing it's from 10 Downing Street. I never expected that in my life but it's not just to me personally.
"There was a quote from Winston Churchill on the back. I can't remember exactly what it was. I have had other things to do this week, you know.
"It was something about courage being one of the greatest qualities you could have as a human being, not just as a rugby player, that's a given."
That courage has coursed through this England side from prop Andrew Sheridan at number one to retiring full-back Jason Robinson at 15, especially in the last two unexpected wins against Australia and France.
The wonder of Ashton is that he has kept his nerve, kept his humour and kept his faith in his core players, whose pride and passion has been a revelation, and they have rewarded him with performances which have improved game on game.
So much so that come Saturday night at the Stade de France England could yet live up to Ashton's promise at the start of his reign that here was a team which would shock the world.
Ashton said: "Back in January we probably did need to 'Shock the world' to win the World Cup. I didn't make that up, it came from Muhammad Ali who said it before his first fight against Sonny Liston.
"If it was good enough for Muhammad Ali it was good enough for me."
For the record, the correct quotation is as follows: "Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others."
