Steve Thompson was surrounded by so many journalists in the Sheraton Hotel, Melbourne tonight, that he joked about losing weight in the sauna-like conditions.
But the cuddly England hooker, sent out to face the press pack before Sunday’s penultimate Pool C clash against Samoa, barely broke a sweat as he handled the trickiest of questions.
The Australian journalists were eager to find out if the world’s best side were disappointed they didn’t dominate the entire game during Sunday’s 25-6 key win over South Africa in Perth.
Thommo grinned: ”Obviously we knew what was coming for us, we knew it would be very physical.
”But we were a bit rusty, both teams were nervous but we looked fitter towards the end.
”The basics can improve. We got 100 percent in the line-out, I was pleased with that, but they put pressure on the scrum. And they turned ball over in the rucking area.
”It was a hard match. I think SA were trying to turn us around (on the right of the scrum) perhaps our minds just switched off for a second.
”Sometimes you’ve got to be realistic. We can’t aways dominate, especially against teams like SA. I was quite happy with thescrummaging.”
But the Aussies weren’t happy with all this. They’ve been generally writing England off. Surely, Thommo was asked, the pressure was too much for England?
”I thought we handled it quite well.” said the big man,
”I can’t remember a more intense Test. It was very physical. They were hitting hard, especially in the rucking area.
”We were very happy with the result. That’s the way we want to go forward with this tournament.
”Not playing particularly well but getting the results right. I’m only worried about the result. They can say what they want.
”We know what we want to work on. We’re not saying we’re completely happy with our performance and there’s nothing to work on.”
But hold on Thommo, didn’t Bok skipper Corne Krige say you were arguing among yourselves?
Thompson, who was only switched to hooker by then Northampton coach Ian McGeechan four years ago, laughed: ”I think we argue with ourselves in every game. It’s just talking. We’ve got our leaders, they’re just helping out.
”We knew what we needed to do. It was a vital victory for us.
”We just dismiss the critisism. Freedom of speech and all that. Remember the Boks beat Australia and gave New Zealand a good fight in the Tri-Nations.
”We’ve still got a few games to play in the pool. We’ve got Samoa next. We know we’ve got to build. There’s no chance we’ll fall off our game.”
But Thompson accepts the Seffefrikens put up a tough fight: ”We were sore for a couple of days after South Africa. There is relief in the camp.”
But what about the All Blacks asked the Aussies? ”We haven’t watched any All Blacks games. I haven’t seen any video of New Zealand’ We don’t know if we’ll meet them at all.”
Was he frustrated that he didn’t get more of the ball on Saturday?
”One of my strengths is carrying the ball, but I got a bit frustrated. When I did get the ball I dropped it. Maradonna must have been knocking it out of my hands!”
With that, Thommo was gone. The Aussie journalists hadn’t thrown him off track any more than the South Africans.
Roll on Samoa.