Dawson will never forget cup welcome

Matt Dawson said the scenes which greeted the England rugby team on their arrival at Heathrow Airport this morning will stay with him forever.

The scrum-half said: "It's now beginning to sink in just how huge our World Cup win is for the country. People were telling us in Sydney that everything had kicked off back home, but what we saw at the airport, with all those people there to greet us, will live with me until the day I die.

"I'm looking forward to getting back to Northampton, with my club-mates Steve Thompson, Ben Cohen and Paul Grayson, and I am sure that will be quite emotional too.

"Perhaps, one day soon, we will be able to show off the World Cup trophy to all the passionate rugby people of Northampton. That would be a great honour."

Meanwhile, Dawson, the man who threw the pass for Jonny Wilkinson to gain sporting immortality, today backed the England fly-half's ability to handle his new-found superstar status.

He added: "Jonny has already shown he is exceptional when it comes to dealing with pressure.

"I think it has been easy over the last few days to forget about all the negative publicity and criticism which he had to contend with during the early part of the World Cup.

"But he dealt with all of that very well indeed and he is also surrounded by a fantastic group of players who have all shown they can handle massive pressure too."