WHEN New Zealand and Australia take to the field at Twickenham this afternoon in the Rugby World Cup final, Iain Balshaw will know exactly what is going through the mind of each and every player.

It was 12 years ago that Blackburn-born Balshaw was part of the triumphant England team that won an epic encounter against the Wallabies - coming on as an extra time replacement in the historic 20-17 victory.

Balshaw remembers the week leading up to the final at the Telstra Stadium as if it was only yesterday.

After six weeks of putting bodies on the line - as England topped their group and beat Wales and France in the knockout stages - it came down to the final preparations ahead of taking on hosts Australia in their own back yard.

“In the week leading up to the final, it was very relaxed in the camp,” recalls Balshaw who scored tries against Samoa and Uruguay in the group stages. “We did a few heavy training sessions early in the week but after that is was just fine tuning.

“All the hard work had been done in the lead up to the World Cup.

“So the week before, it was more about walking through moves and working in the classroom looking at weaknesses in the Australia team and looking to exploit them.

“That is exactly what the New Zealand and Australia teams will have been doing this week.”

On final day itself, Balshaw, a former pupil at Stonyhurst College, admits nerves began to rise as the team coach edged nearer to the 83,000 capacity stadium.

“We were staying about an hour out of Sydney so we were hidden away from all the build-up,” said Balshaw, 36, whose mother Margaret used to be a switchboard operator at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph while his dad, Fred, was a caretaker at St Mary’s Prep School.

“But as we got nearer and we could see the stadium and the fans in the streets, the coach got a lot quieter and everyone began to focus on the game ahead.”

Once inside, players went about their own pre-match build-up, routines they had done before every other game. This game just happened to a World Cup final.

“Players like to prepare in different ways,” added Balshaw. “Some liked to joke about, others sat there reading the programme while others were quietly thinking about the game ahead, getting into the zone.

“The kickers would go out on to the pitch early and we would follow them out a bit later. It was the same before every other game and we had to try and treat this like any other game.”

As the final drew nearer, the changing room throbbed to a concoction of different sounds, music to suit different tastes and different players. The ultimate mix tape.

“We always listened to music to get us in right frame,” said the 36-year-old who has now retired due to injury. “We all picked a few songs each and stuck them on a tape.

“It was a great idea because we all had our own input but saying that, I haven’t a clue what songs I picked!”

The England squad was full of players at the top of their game, stars of their club sides. But only 15 of them would start and Balshaw took his place on the bench.

“Being a replacement is quite strange,” revealed Balshaw who still lives in France having played for Biarritz. “At club level, you generally start every match so being on the bench is different.

“When you are playing you know that come kick off, you are on the pitch.

“As a replacement you have no idea when you are going on, it could be the first minute or the last minute…or not at all.

“So you sit and watch the game and you are involved but detached at the same time.

“You are up every 15 minutes or so to warm up, and then you sit back down and chat with whoever is sat next to you.”

All the time, Balshaw, was going over and over what he would do if he got on.

He said: “It was a case of remembering everything we had talked about, worked on over the months leading up to the World Cup. And to not mess up if I got on!”

And the call to go on finally came in extra time as a replacement for Josh Lewsey with the match poised at 14-14.

“There were no last minute instructions,” Balshaw remembers. “Clive just tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘right you’re going on.’ “Going on as a replacement in any game is tough because you have to get with the pace and intensity of the game straight away.

“So coming on in a World Cup final with so much at stake makes it all the more difficult. I remember touching the ball a few times, making a few tackles and trying to stick to the game plan.”

With 20 seconds remaining and the game tied at 17-17 and sudden death looming, Jonny Wilkinson famously ‘dropped for World Cup glory’.

Balshaw, stood on Wilkinson’s right was perfectly placed.

“At the time, I thought ‘what are you doing’. I was screaming at him to pass the ball to me. Thankfully he made the right decision.”

As the ball sailed through the post to seal a remarkable victory, it was the culmination of everything England had aimed for over the previous four years.

Everything had come good on the night but, as Balshaw recalls, he could have improved on his choreography.

“When Jonny kicked that winning drop goal, I was the first to celebrate with him,” he said. “We went to do a high five but we completely missed.

“All those years of preparing for this moment and we couldn’t even do a high five!”

After the match, Balshaw remembers an almost downbeat mood.

“It was quite weird in the changing rooms afterwards.

“We were all a bit subdued,” he said.

“I think we sat there is disbelief not quite believing we had just won the World Cup.”

Come this evening, New Zealand or Australia players will have gone through the whole mixed emotions Balshaw suffered on that memorable night in Sydney 12 years ago.