Big old man chasing the one that matters

The 34-year-old goes into Saturday's titanic Cup semi-final with France as an integral part of an England pack that destroyed Australia and must now repeat such heroics against the hosts in Paris.

It's a formidable challenge, but just the latest a career that has seen Shaw constantly cast into the selection wilderness by various national coaches. Now, under Brian Ashton, he is a valued member of a squad that has confounded the experts and Shaw is confident England can become the first country to successfully defend the Webb Ellis trophy.

"I had a gripe about not playing in 2003 and I have fulfilled one of my aims by being here at the World Cup in France," said Shaw, who used to loan out his winner's medal and it also spent some time in the glove compartment of a friend's car.

"Now, the challenge is to win on Saturday, get to the final and collect another winner's medal - for playing this time."

The 6ft 9ins, 19st 7lb lock has finally emerged from shadow cast by Martin Johnson, England's Cup winning captain, who dominated the No4 jersey he now wears. He is up against Fabien Pelous, France's most capped forward with 117 Tests which probably equates to the number of times Shaw has been overlooked by England.

Shaw has enormous respect for Pelous, a player he first came up against as a 16-year-old while wearing the colours of Harlequins. "I know it's a big thing to admit to as a Wasps man, but I was offered the chance to play for Quins Colts against a French side while based in Surrey," said Shaw who quickly opted to join Bristol.

"Pelous was bit older than me and what really impressed me was that he did the 'thank you' speech after the match in English. France also have my Wasps team mate Rafael Ibanez at hooker and captain and I have been texting him during the tournament congratulating 'the old man'. He is quick to reply: 'Thanks, big old man'!"

Shaw has never been a donkey either in playing style or mental ability and that has a l lowed him to remain positive when the easy option was to walk away as England turned to other second rows. Shaw boasts a natural humour that thrives in the rugby environment and has a host of stories about Mark 'Ronnie' Regan, his former team mate at Bristol, who will be throwing him the ball at line outs during Saturday's World Cup semi-final. You get the distinct impression that without the laughter, Shaw could have become a very bitter man.

In 2004, after another period of injury and missed selection, Shaw found himself in Rome to meet the Pope. The Vatican meeting came at the end of a 12-month period that saw Shaw unused at the 2003 World Cup, finally chosen by England when Johnson retired only to be sent off against New Zealand in Auckland and then laid up with a worrying neck problem that forced him to consider alternative medical help.

No wonder the Pontiff gave Shaw a major side step and moved on to talk to 'that nice Josh Lewsey'. A day earlier, he had taken part in the official Buckingham Palace investiture for the 31 Cup winning players leading to this observation from Shaw MBE: "Having been privileged to go to see the Queen on Tuesday and the Pope on Wednesday, I was at a bit of a loose end on Thursday!"

Shaw knows exactly where he will be on Saturday when victory would give him the chance to add another winner's medal to the one that was unloved for so long before he finally came to terms with being that 31st man.

"The right England players are out here and I have full confidence in everyone around me," Shaw added. "There is no reason why we cannot produce a huge upset."