ENGLAND expects and all that but I actually don't care if we win or lose the match today because as far as I'm concerned, Jonny and Phil and Doolally and the chaps have already done their job.

They have demolished the old enemy, given us something to smile about and they have shown all those who would spend their lives fighting, knifing, thieving and mugging old ladies that there is another way to be the total man.

Win or lose today I know the England rugby team will be unbeatable in victory or gracious in defeat. Because that's what they do. There'll be no posing or preening, no entourages and diva-ish tantrums. No "we woz robbed" nonsense with the ref and no unseemly jostle for the financial spoils.

None of this is a surprise because rugby players are generally big, strong, brave and decent. Which is exactly why I married one.

Violent on the pitch they may be but they're gentlemen off it. One of my most beloved memories is of the day my husband and I took our baby for his first showing off at the rugby club.

The sight of these man mountains, some of them six feet five, cradling our tiny son and passing him around like a rugby ball made of china is one I'll never forget.

The fact that quite a lot of beer got slopped on him was by-the-by - rugby blokes like a drink but they rarely become vicious or abusive. Did you notice that unlike most England soccer clashes, there were no reports of drunken violence or arrests on the streets of Paris last Saturday?

Rugby players don't make a fuss or make excuses. They would rather die than make like the ridiculous AC Milan goalie Dida, who was tapped on the cheek by a Celtic fan and then fell to the ground, writhing. The average rugby player's response to any kind of felling is that of the estimable Brian "Pitbull" Moore which is: "Get up, you're embarrassing yourself."

The values of rugby - team spirit, pride in your country and listening politely to the ref - have all but disappeared from the game with the round ball and from much of our country, too.

But in their commitment and endeavour and their sheer grit and determination to ignore their detractors and get us to the World Cup, our rugby team has shown us one way to get them back. This is why, whatever happens in Paris tonight, England is already the winner.

  • 16-page Rugby World Cup special, inside Saturday's Daily Echo