PhotoPlus The Canon Magazine – August 2019

going to set up the outside TV studio to do
interviews on the edge of the pitch at the
end of the match. They were setting those
up in front of us so we had to move to
make way for the TV. We went round to
the tunnel side and it should have been the
wrong side because normally Jonny kicks
with his left foot. If he had done, all I
would have seen would have been his
backside! Luckily and incredibly, he kicked
with his right foot.

That was lucky!
Even then, we had to move about four or
five times because the TV cameraman
was in front, or the ball boy, or the
linesman, so we couldn’t sit there waiting

• we had to keep on moving. You don’t
  have time to think, when you see it, you
  have to shoot it. It’s a bit like duck
  hunting, not that I’ve ever done that!
  There were two or three of us, and we
  thought we were going to be blocked, so
  it was a bit tense because England hadn’t
  won the World Cup before. It’s a big
  thing the World Cup, in any sport.

How do you rate England’s
chances this time?
They’re good! Of course, New Zealand,

07

The Canon Magazine 71

More Than

a gaMe

As an Englishman, Dave’s

vivid memories of England’s

Rugby World Cup triumph in

Sydney still excite:

“I think 2003 was amazing.

Luckily, I went to the dressing

room with England and that was

just a privilege to be in there,

thanks to Clive Woodward, who

sorted that out for me. It was

incredible. Prince Harry was in

there celebrating – it was just a

very privileged occasion to

witness.” But for national significance it was

South Africa’s victory in 1995, just one year

after Nelson Mandela was elected the

country’s first black president, that had an

even greater impact. “To go back there and

see their country pull together through rugby,

which is the South African white sport, it was

incredible. I never thought I’d live to see the

day,” he recalls. “I remember driving back to

the hotel through all the crowds and it was the

Rainbow Nation, it certainly was, with all the

crowds on the pavement celebrating the

Springboks victory. It was very emotional.

One of the most emotional I’ve ever been.”

sTory BehinD The shoT