Tindall thunders way into final

It is not easy to be your own man when everyone criticises you for not being someone else. Ask Mike Tindall. Since making a try-scoring debut for England at Twickenham almost four years ago, his critics have highlighted a series of apparent shortcomings in his game: he does not kick like a Wilkinson, or pass like a Greenwood, or make silk-smooth breaks through the clutter of the opposition midfield like a Catt. Tindall's specialities - his tackling, his chasing, his iron-minded embrace of the dog-end duties of international rugby - are not the inspiration for fine words or unfettered praise. He is widely regarded, almost dismissed, as a journeyman.

Yet this journeyman has more than 30 caps and nine Test tries to his name, and had managed to keep the likes of Catt out of the first-pick side for almost exactly two years before the England coaches decided to wind back the clock for last weekend's semi-final with France. Even then, Catt's promotion had more to do with Jonny Wilkinson's tactical frailties than any misdemeanour Tindall might have committed during this tournament. And when push came to shove yesterday, the younger man was reinstated for the most serious business of all, against Australia in Saturday's decider.

He must bring something to the party, then. And the reality, of course, is that he brings lots of things. Tindall is not the first England centre of recent memory to be out-glamorised by those around him: think Phil de Glanville, standing alongside Jeremy Guscott, or Paul Dodge, parked up next to a certain Clive Woodward Esq. But every velvet glove needs its hand of steel if it is to shake the opposition by the throat, and this is where the Tindalls of this world come into the equation.

Opinion had been split on the Catt-Tindall issue since the victory over France, but the true cognoscenti had their money on the latter. The French midfield was nobody's idea of a pushover, but in terms of physical presence, Tony Marsh was no Stirling Mortlock. Aurelien Rougerie was not the smallest wing in the world, but Wendell Sailor is a whole lot bigger; and Christophe Dominici was hardly equipped to cause damage on a Lote Tuqiri scale, despite his penchant for kicking opponents' legs from under them.

England's kicking game will be central to the piece this weekend, and Tindall's chasing is part and parcel of that kicking game. "They're not too shabby, that Wallaby back three," he said yesterday, referring to Sailor, Tuqiri and Mat Rogers. "I'll need to be chasing something other than shadows, so the kickers will have to put the ball on a sixpence. If they do that, I'll be there when it comes down." He will also be there if one of those wide runners manages to breach the "white wall", as England call their defensive line. "If you make your tackles, they can't score," he said, simply.

Woodward has been speaking glowingly of the 25-year-old Yorkshireman's reaction to the disappointment of demotion last weekend. "He was brilliant, just as Catt is being brilliant now," the coach said. "We noticed how, when the team ran out to face France, Tindall was the first to offer encouragement, to smack people on the back and tell them to do it for England. We all remarked on it in the coaches' booth. And that's how it should be. In these circumstances, the most important people in the squad are those not immediately involved, or not involved at all."

To Tindall's way of thinking, it was a statement of the obvious. "I was disappointed at being dropped to the bench, but you have to handle it and get on with what you're doing," he shrugged. "Clive has repeatedly said that this World Cup will be won, if it is won, by all 30 of us. Mike was given the decision for that game and I understood the reasoning, and when I saw him out there on a shitty night for rugby to play a World Cup semi-final against France, I wanted him to know I was with him."

And now? Are Tindall and Catt on speaking terms, given that only one has made the starting line-up for this game of games? "If you're asking me what we said to each other, the answer is very little," Tindall continued. "What is there to say? It's a case of 'Well done, mate' and a shake of the hand. But if there is not much to be said, there is no awkwardness between us, either. These things are always a pain in the arse for the person it affects; when Mike was chosen last week, a few 'what ifs' entered my mind. And when we won, I wondered whether Clive would bother to change the team. But those are the thoughts you have to shut out.

"It's hard on Mike - he played wonderfully against Wales and did nothing wrong in the semi-final. There is no point us arguing about something out of our control. Selection isn't the fault of either of us."

WORLD CUP SCHEDULE AND TEAMS

FINAL

(Saturday, Sydney, 9.0am GMT)

ENGLAND: J Lewsey (Wasps); J Robinson (Sale), M Tindall (Bath), W Greenwood (Harlequins), B Cohen (Northampton); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), M Dawson (Northampton); T Woodman (Gloucester), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester), M Johnson (Leicester, capt), B Kay (Leicester), R Hill (Saracens), N Back (Leicester), L Dallaglio (Wasps). Replacements: D West (Leicester), J Leonard (Harlequins), M Corry (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), K Bracken (Saracens), M Catt (Bath), I Balshaw (Bath).

AUSTRALIA: M Rogers (NSW Waratahs); W Sailor (Queensland Reds), S Mortlock (ACT Brumbies), E Flatley (Queensland ), L Tuqiri (NSW); S Larkham (ACT), G Gregan (ACT capt)); D Lyons (NSW), P Waugh (NSW), G Smith (ACT), N Sharpe (Queensland), J Harrison (ACT Brumbies), A Baxter (NSW), B Cannon (NSW), B Young (ACT). Replacements: J Paul (ACT), M Dunning (NSW), D Giffin (ACT), M Cockbain (Queensland), C Whitaker (NSW), M Giteau (ACT), J Roff (ACT).

Referee: A Watson (South Africa)

THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF

(Today, Sydney, 9.0am GMT)

FRANCE: C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); P Elhorga (Agen), T Marsh (Montferrand), D Traille (Pau), D Bory (Pau); G Merceron (Montferrand), D Yachvili (Biarritz); S Marconnet (Stade Français), Y Bru (Toulouse, capt), J B Poux (Toulouse), D Auradou (S Français), T Privat (Pau), P Tabacco (S Français), S Chabal (Bourgoin), C Labit (Toulouse). Replacements: R Ibañez (Saracens), J-J Crenca (Agen), F Pelous (Toulouse), O Magne (Montferrand), F Michalak (Toulouse), B Liebenberg (S Français), N Brusque (Biarritz).

NEW ZEALAND: M Muliaina (Auckland); D Howlett (Auckland), L MacDonald (Canterbury), A Mauger (Canterbury), J Rokocoko (Auckland); C Spencer (Auckland), S Devine (Auckland); D Hewett (Canterbury), K Mealamu (Auckland), G Somerville (Canterbury), C Jack (Canterbury), A Williams (Auckland), R Thorne (Canterbury, capt), R McCaw (Canterbury), J Collins (Wellington). Replacements: M Hammett (Canterbury), C Hoeft (Otago), B Thorn (Canterbury), M Holah (Waikato), B Kelleher (Otago), D Carter (Canterbury), C Ralph (Canterbury).

Referee: C White (England).