• Frozen in Time

The Catt that got the dream

England became the first Northern Hemisphere side to win the Rugby World Cup © Getty Images

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In the wake of Mike Catt's decision to call time on his playing career after 18 years at the top of the game, we decided to trawl the archives for one of the many high points in his career for our latest Frozen in Time feature.

The moment in question? England's 20-17 victory over Australia in the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Clive Woodward's side had seen off South Africa in some style during the pool stages but wobbled against Wales in the quarter-finals before booking a semi-final clash with France. Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson kicked them past their cross-Channel rivals to set up a final showdown against hosts Australia who had accounted for favourites New Zealand in the final four.

Tens of thousands of England fans turned swathes of Sydney's Telstra Stadium white in anticipation of seeing their side clinch the sport's biggest prize for the first time and they were not to be disappointed. Wilkinson, so often England's talisman, capped a superb tournament with that famous drop goal in the dying moments of extra time to clinch a famous victory.

Indeliby inked on the memory of every England fan and those players lucky enough to share in it, we re-visit the scenes of unbridled joy that unfolded on that magical night and trace the careers of those caught in the lens.

Josh Lewsey (second from left)
With an enviable mix of pace and power, Lewsey won his first caps at centre and fly-half on England's infamous "Tour of Hell" in 1998 but the majority of his 55 caps were won at wing and fullback, with the speedster starring in the No.15 shirt during the tournament in Australia. A switch for Jason Robinson from fullback to wing allowed Lewsey to cement his place in the side and he famously delivered a bone-crunching tackle on Australia's Mat Rogers in their clash earlier the same year. He produced a series of outstanding displays including a record-equalling five-try haul in the rout of Uruguay. Woodward later selected Lewsey for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in 2005 where he appeared in all three Tests.

An England Sevens international, he was also an integral part of England's run to the 2007 World Cup final, scoring the winning try against France in the semi-final before a hamstring injury ruled him out of the final loss to South Africa. Lewsey initially trained to become an army officer but left the services a year before the 2003 Rugby World Cup after deciding he could not combine both careers. His club career included stints with Bristol and Wasps and he helped the latter to four Premiership titles, two Heineken Cup Cups and a European Challenge Cup in an unprecedented spell of success.

Lewsey courted controversy in 2006 by climbing to the base camp of K2 in the Himalayas without his club's permission and following his retirement at the end of the 2008-09 season altitude sickness forced him to abandon an attempt to scale Aconcagua in the Andes, the highest mountain in world outside Asia. He is currently scaling Mount Everest for the Help for Heroes and Combat Stress charities before resuming his career as a management consultant.

Kyran Bracken (third from left)
Bracken served as Matt Dawson's understudy for the tournament in Australia and was an unused replacement in the final, hence the clean kit, having started the morale-boosting victories over New Zealand and Australia earlier in the year.

A former England captain, having led a side shorn of its Lions tourists to North America in 2001, Bracken won a total of 51 caps for his country in a 10-year career that began in ugly fashion. A stamp from All Blacks lock Jamie Joseph led to a serious ankle injury, ending his 1993 debut prematurely and sidelined him for two months. A qualified solicitor, he combined both careers before going full time with Saracens in 1996 as the game turned professional. He was overlooked by the 1997 British & Irish Lions for their trip to South Africa but later joined the tour as a replacement for the injured Rob Howley.

He retired from the game in 2006 and went on to find further fame on ITV's celebrity ice dancing competition - Dancing on Ice - which he won in 2007. He now combines his skating commitments, having launched the 'Kyran Bracken Ice Party' touring production, with public speaking and his other business interests.

Mike Catt (centre)
The South African-born Catt made an all-important cameo in the quarter-final clash with Wales to rescue England's campaign and was promoted to the starting line-up for the semi-final victory over France. But the muscle of Mike Tindall was preferred for the final with Catt destined to make another pivotal contribution off the bench. He entered the fray in the closing moments of regular time and kept the Wallabies' defence honest and made the initial incision that led to Wilkinson's crucial score. He also sparked the celebrations by thumping the restart into touch.

Catt made his England bow in 1994 and would go on to earn 75 caps over the next 13 years, featuring at fly-half, fullback, centre and wing, with the last of his international appearances coming in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final defeat to South Africa. Famously trampled by a rampaging Jonah Lomu during the 1995 Rugby World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand, he led his country on three occasions and also claimed one Test cap for the British & Irish Lions as an injury replacement during the victorious trip to South Africa in 1997.

Catt joined Bath in 1992 and went on to star for the West Country side for the next 12 years, sharing in their 1998 Heineken Cup glory, before switch to Premiership rivals London Irish in 2004 where he enjoyed a new lease of life. He will bring the curtain down on a remarkable playing career at the end of the 2009-10 season to concentrate on his coaching duties with the Premiership club.

Jonny Wilkinson (third right)
"Rugby could not have wished for a more dramatic conclusion to a great tournament, England a more fitting reward for years of sweat, or Jonny Wilkinson a better-timed drop goal for as long as he lives," wrote The Observer's Kevin Mitchell in his report of England's triumph. Wilkinson's drop goal was indeed the icing on the cake but his influence on England's fortunes stretched far beyond that game and that tournament as the key weapon in Woodward's armoury. Regularly a left-footer, the talented fly-half slotted that memorable kick with his right foot to cement his place in English sporting history. The famously tee-total Wilkinson allowed himself only one or two drinks to celebrate. "I did have a couple of beers, but that was only really as a solidarity thing with the other guys," he recalled. "There are times for letting yourself go, but Saturday night I just wanted to let it all soak in."

Rewarded for his heroics with the International Rugby Board Player of the Year honour, and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year prize, Wilkinson has since struggled to live up to that special night with a succession of injuries plaguing his career. He won his first cap against Ireland in 1998 aged 18 years and 314 days to become England's second youngest player and soon eclipsed his mentor Rob Andrew as his country's leading scorer and in 2008 he passed the mark of Wales' Neil Jenkins as the all-time leading scorer in international rugby. He holds the Rugby World Cup points record with 249 and has also toured with the British & Irish Lions twice - to Australia in 2001 and New Zealand in 2005 - and captained his country.

But following the night in question, knee ligament, arm, shoulder and kidney problems meant he did not appear again for England until 2007, but did enough to reclaim his place for that year's Rugby World Cup - his third. His injury woes returned in 2008 with a dislocated knee cap bringing an end to an 11-year relationship with Premiership side Newcastle. A big-money move to French side Toulon followed that gave his playing career fresh impetus with Wilkinson also claiming inner peace through Buddhism.

Matt Dawson (far right)
"To say we celebrated in style would be the understatement of the year. We've had a big one - an absolute blinder and I think it's been richly deserved," said the England scrum-half whose charactersitic snipe took his side deep into the Australia 22 in the final play of the game. England's most-capped No.9, Dawson made 77 appearances in an England shirt and had the honour of leading his country on nine of those occasions. He also toured South Africa with the British & Irish Lions in 1997, famously bamboozling the Springboks defence with a dummy during the crucial first Test victory.

Dawson made his international bow in 1995 having already starred for England Sevens in their Rugby World Cup victory in 1993 and he remains one of only two players, alongside team-mate Lawrence Dallaglio, to have won both titles. He spent the large majority of his club career with Northampton but injury ruled him out of their 1999 Heineken Cup success. He moved to Premiership rivals Wasps in 2004 where he went on to taste both European and domestic success.

He announced his retirement from all rugby in 2006 and went on to find further fame in a number of media projects. He is a regular analyst for BBC Radio 5 Live and continues to act as a team captain on the popular BBC sports quiz A Question of Sport, which he joined in 2004. He also showed off his cooking skills on his way to claiming the Celebrity Masterchef title and was a finalist in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.

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