We're happy with close encounter of the cling-on kind

Jason Leonard, the world's mostcapped forward with 106 caps, will be writing exclusively for Standard Sport from the Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Today, he gives an insider's view of the England camp, from the old hurts to the new shirts Of course, when we are packing down as two front rows it's always a case of what kind of advantage you can get on the bloke

YOU DON'T turn up at a World Cup to make up the numbers. You are there to win the trophy and that's our target.

Having got so near to glory with England in 1991 at Twickenham when Australia-beat us in the final, I never want to experience that kind of disappointment again.

Although this is my fourth World Cup - I am absolutely thrilled to have joined a select group of players who have achieved this feat - I was not taking anything for granted. I was just as nervous as anyone when we were waiting for head coach Clive Woodward to name the final 30 players who will be going to Australia.

It's a huge honour to get the chance to pit yourself against the best and that feeling doesn't change because it's my fourth cup. I played in every match of the 1991 event after just one year of Test rugby and I was a youngster still learning my trade.

This is the strongest squad I have been involved with and you only have to look at the talent left behind - guys like Simon Shaw and Graham Rowntree - to understand what I am talking about. I realise that after making the final in 1991, we were fourth in 1995 and lost in the quarterfinals four years ago, so the graph has been going the wrong way. We are going to reverse the trend this year.

Going into the cup, I know that our new jerseys have made an impact with the fans and it's not true that all the forwards have been training specially to suck in their stomachs for 80 minutes! The jerseys are like a second skin and are hard to get on, but have made a real difference.

I lose around 2-3kgs of sweat during a match, but this used to make the old cotton-style jerseys heavier as the game progressed. With this new material, the sweat evaporates and because the jersey acts as a second skin it is much harder for opponents to grab hold of you.

opposite, and we can no longer grab a handful of cotton jersey. How do I deal with that? Well, if I can't get hold of the jersey then it's a case of grabbing a bit of flesh!

What the fans don't see is the scene in the England dressing room after a match when it's very hard to take the jersey off because it's so tight. You need a helping hand to pull it over your head and we are more than happy with the new kit.

As for the competition to show off the best sixpack, all the boys are looking good thanks to the intensive training we have been undertaking as a squad. The pressure doesn't ease just because the final 30 have been named.

We won't be leaving for Australia until 1 October so that gives the management time to come up with more training routines.

The full benefit of the new jersey will be seen when we are playing in hot and possibly humid conditions in Australia.

We have spent around a month together as a 43-strong squad and now we are down to the final 30 and the boys have been great.

The banter is flying around and no-one is giving me any special treatment just because this will be my fourth tournament. I am not at the stage where I walk in and one of the younger lads offers me his seat!

There's no favouritism and we all take verbals during the day and the mickey-taking shows that we are all in great heart. Austin Healey, another guy unlucky to miss out on final selection, was telling anyone who would listen last week that Jonny (Wilkinson), Martin (Johnson) and Lawrence (Dallaglio) were in the safety car going round the track while the rest of us were racing like mad to get into the final squad.

In fact, not even that trio of great players were taking anything for granted and this tremendous desire to do well in Australia is driving everyone on.

We now have a week off to spend time with our families before returning to the Pennyhill Park hotel in Bagshot for more training and the management have found a really good balance between putting in the hard work and being back with your loved ones. Although, wrestling with my two lads, Harry (four) and Jack (two), this week will be just like mauling practise with the rest of the forwards!

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