England v Australia: Those who assume an unchanged England team is no big deal are forgetting the Martin Corrys of this world. After seven years at the international coalface the Leicester forward has accumulated 32 caps but, remarkably, yesterday was the first time he has been named in his country's first-choice back row for three Tests in a row.
Corry admits even his Leicester club-mates had started to lay bets against him ever regaining his place.
"I had a bet with Darren Garforth who, in his sympathetic way said: 'You'll never play for England again'," revealed Corry yesterday. "The precise terms are now in question but he was so adamant he said he'd give me £1,000 for every additional cap I got, provided that every international I missed I gave him £1,000."
Given Corry did not start a Test for almost two years prior to the World Cup warm-up game against Wales in 2003 it is as well memories have blurred but the story sums up how far the 31-year-old has climbed to re-emerge as the star forward in England's 32-16 victory over South Africa last weekend.
Corry has never been the sort to get carried away by one decent performance, even if he caused South Africa as many problems on Saturday as Lawrence Dallaglio once did in his prime. After the game he drove up to Leicester and spent the evening with his wife Tara and one-year-old daughter Eve.
Australia will pose a different challenge from the more physical Springboks and, in their back-row ball-sniffers George Smith and Phil Waugh, possess players who, as the 6ft 5in Corry concedes, "can turn a game". If they do, his position will be uncertain again which, for someone who prefers to be in control of situations, would be a return to the bad old days.
The only previous times he has started three successive Tests were on the Lions tour in 2001, when he was summoned as a replacement, yet played in all three Tests, and during the aforementioned World Cup warm-up period. Injury has often intervened, notably a persistent post-Lions hamstring problem, and even last month he was worried fate might be about to intervene once more.
Even Corry, yesterday named Zurich Premiership player of the month for October, admits the TV images of himself and George Chuter rucking a prone Jonathan Humphreys in Leicester's Premiership game against Bath looked "horrendous" and, as he awaited the tribunal's decision, all sorts of dire thoughts ran through his head. "I've got to say that was a horrible time. I honestly thought I'd blown it. I don't go out to stamp on people. That's not my nature but when you're going into the hearing you don't know how it's going to turn out."
He was found guilty but, unlike Chuter, received only a short ban. The desire to put the episode behind him may have contributed to the performance of his life against the Springboks.
ENGLAND: Robinson (capt); Cueto (both Sale), Paul (Gloucester), Tindall (Bath), Lewsey (Wasps); Hodgson (Sale), Gomarsall (Gloucester); Rowntree (Leicester), Thompson (Northampton), White (Leicester), Grewcock, Borthwick (both Bath), Worsley (Wasps), Moody, Corry (both Leicester). Replacements: Titterrell, Sheridan (both Sale), Kay (Leicester), Hazell (Gloucester), Ellis (Leicester), Greenwood (Harlequins), Cohen (Northampton).
