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Ashton deserves his big day

Ashton deserves his big day out in Paris

Unbelievably, Brian Ashton will lead out his England team for the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday.

Or at least he will watch calmly from high up in the stands as his men try to clinch what would be, perhaps already is, the greatest feat of over-achievement in English sporting history.

After a ropey Six Nations, a nightmare tour of South Africa and a pair of pre-tournament beatings at the hands of the French - all under head coach Ashton's stewardship - avoiding humiliation was about the only goal thought achievable by the reigning champions.

And after a scrappy win over the USA and a devastating 36-0 loss to South Africa in their second pool game just over a month ago, it seemed even that modest aim would go unfulfilled.

It is hard to overstate just how depressing that hammering at the hands of the Springboks was to anyone with a vested interest in England.

Even by the exceptionally low standards set since the epic win over Australia in the final four years ago, England were awful.

The forwards were blown away by a pack determined to avenge their 2003 quarter-final defeat, while the backs were unimaginative, lethargic and utterly rudderless.

After that the mere task of making it to the knockout stages - the minimum achieved by every other previous world champion - appeared mountainous.

But, ironically, the worst evening in England's World Cup history was the ugly foundation stone on which their gleaming renaissance was constructed.

As Ashton admitted after Saturday's semi-final win over France.

"The South Africa game came at the right time because it gave us a massive kick up the backside and a wake-up call to make sure we got our act together," he said.

"In many ways, that was the defining moment of the tournament for me."

But how, from the wreckage of England's title hopes created by that humbling experience, has Ashton been able fashion a team capable of producing two world-class performances in the knockout stages?

Despite all the hype surrounding his brutal pack, the most obvious answer is that he has been lucky.

Lucky that Jonny Wilkinson, of whom predecessor Andy Robinson was robbed due to injury for his entire three-year tenure, has been able to return to play a central role.

The majestic number 10 has played in all four games since the slaughter in St Denis and has been key to victories in each.

He may have been awry with his place kicking at times but, in a team shorn of the superstars available to Sir Clive Woodward in 2003, he is now so much more than a swinging boot.

Wilkinson brings to the team a measure of control that his competitors at number 10 - Mike Catt, a centre, and Olly Barkley, just not top class - simply cannot provide.

And he is a winner. Wilkinson aside, the rest of Ashton's team, including the few players left from 2003, had become used to losing.

Wilkinson's absence may have been a major reason for England's poor form of the last four years, but it also means he can be absolved of any blame for it and has not become tarnished by it.

As he displayed against Australia and France, if you want a cool head under the fiercest of pressure Wilkinson, above any other player in the world, is the man you turn to.

Just look at what happened to his late drop goal against the French compared to the skewed effort of his opposite number Frederic Michalak.

It should also be said that Ashton got lucky elsewhere in the backs.

The less-than-convincing Andy Farrell was initially penciled-in to play outside Wilkinson at number 12 in the quarter-final win over the Wallabies.

Fortunately for England's World Cup hopes, the former rugby league player was ruled out with a calf injury, allowing Wilkinson to rekindle the partnership with Catt which had been so productive in the past. The control in the backs instantly went up several notches.

With hindsight, partnering Wilkinson and Catt should have been obvious, and it is not to Ashton's credit that he overlooked that.

For his transformation of the pack, in tandem with forwards coach John Wells and scrum specialist Graham Rowntree, Ashton deserves great credit.

The eight has also been subject to change, but in harnessing the immense talents of Andrew Sheridan in the front row and Simon Shaw at lock, Ashton's coaching team have created a pack capable of beating the best.

But the greatest single feat achieved by Ashton was to instil a belief in his squad that they could even compete with the likes of Australia and France, when the evidence suggested they could not.

Modestly, Ashton insists he leaves most of the thinking and motivation to the players, but in the wake of the Springboks disaster the players would have looked to their head coach in hope of salvation.

That he was able to provide the rallying cry to put his men back on their feet, confident and hungrier than ever, is why Ashton deserves every plaudit that comes his way.