World Cup stars are just happy to chill out

GUERNSEY greeted two World Cup winners in Ben Kay and Dorian West yesterday. The two Leicester and England forwards were in the island as part of the Sweet Chariot Tour and they were making the most of a rare opportunity to relax.

But since that famous triumph over Australia in November, do the players get tired of the constant public appearances that go with being World Cup winners?

'You have got to remember that every time you go on one of these, it is the first time for the people you are meeting to see the trophy. It is a big thing and it is enjoyable to see their reactions,' said Kay.

'For us - we have not got a game this week - which means we have a couple of beers and relax a bit more than usual.'

The reaction to the success has been phenomenal and both Kay and West surprisingly admitted that the one thing they missed was not being in their local pub when it happened.

'When the final whistle went I said, ?imagine what the guys are doing back home. They will be going berserk?. 'We spoke to a few friends on the phone soon after and they were starting off on a marathon day. It is great that everyone had such a good time off the back of it,' said West.

But the 2003 RWC had far more impact than just an extended period of celebration for the nation. It has given rugby in the UK a great future with thousands of children now taking up the game looking to be the next Ben Kay, Dorian West or, more likely, Jonny Wilkinson.

'That is the biggest thing I have noticed,' said Kay.

'Leicester is a huge rugby place anyway and we were getting recognised quite a lot before we went to Australia, but I am from Liverpool and when I have been back there, suddenly I was getting recognised where I thought I never would be.'

West added: 'Since we turned professional, the profile of the game has gone up.

'People have generally taken more interest and the standard of our league has gone up. Winning the World Cup has pushed it up even more.

'Like Ben said, there are local areas where it has always been a football community and now they are talking about starting up minis rugby sides.'

Of course, since the World Cup England have lost two games in the Six Nations to come third in that competition, but the players were not too disheartened by those results.

'When you are the best, everyone who plays you over-performs. So you have to be at your best and to be able to play at that standard week in, week out is a big ask,' said West.

Kay added: 'The problem we had was that the French are an awesome side on their home patch so that was always going to be a tough game.

'Ireland was our first real tough game since the World Cup and we were frightened to try things because we were making sure that we did not lose the game. We did not go out to win the game as we usually do.'

But as Kay acknowledged, a summer tour to New Zealand and Australia is not the easiest way to put those results behind you.