When England take to the field in Brisbane on Saturday for their first World Cup final in 22 years, there will be a group of men 12,000 miles away willing them to take the step they could not manage in 1995. This time it will be Sam Burgess, Sean O’Loughlin and co vying for the first British World Cup win since 1972; then, it was players such as Jason Robinson and Martin Offiah who fell at the final hurdle.
As in 1995, Australia are the opposition but the backdrop and circumstances are mightily different. “It was a hugely exciting time for rugby league,” says Karl Harrison, who started at prop for Phil Larder’s side at Wembley that October day.
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