Abbott finds himself in a new world

Heineken Cup: Sydney understudy embodies Woodward creed in pursuit of enduring excellence

A cold grey day in west London, and condensation is cascading down the windows of Wasps' fitness room. Rub the glass, peer through the mist and you see them: pounding away on the weights and the treadmill. The English champions preparing for the next phase of the seamless season, taking on Perpignan in the Heineken Cup today. Same old routine, right?

Anything but. For look a little closer, and there they are, the gilded ones. A World Cup winner, oh, and there's another, and another. Lawrence Dallaglio, Josh Lewsey, Joe Worsley, Simon Shaw, Stuart Abbott. What are they doing here, in humdrum Acton, which not even Betjemanesque musings could turn into much of a place? Simple, really, they're playing the game, and Tony Blair could do worse than take a look at this scene before he receives the England squad in Downing Street. Talk about common sense English values; the place reeks of it. "Back to basics" would do, if someone hadn't done that line before.

The last fortnight - it feels like five minutes, and then again a lifetime - has been full of potentially head-turning moments. "England's glory", "Woodward's wonders", Lewsey and Jason Leonard photographed for "chez nous" features in Hello! magazine, for goodness' sake. It will reach a peak tomorrow: a bus parade through London before meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace, then the Prime Minister. And still, on Tuesday, the players will train again. These are resolute men in remarkable times.

Abbott will not be the first name on anyone's lips when they reel off England's Webb Ellis Cup winners in years to come. His moment may arrive in France in 2007. For now, he is, to employ the 1966 analogy, a John Connelly, or an Ian Callaghan. Though not a Jimmy Greaves, for Abbott, understudying the first-choice centres, happily exceeded his expectations of the tournament by taking part in three matches.

He does, however, embody the principles of England's success, and no matter that he grew up in South Africa and owes his British passport to his maternal grandparents. Clear-eyed, bright, dedicated to his rugby. Last week Wasps reunited - minus Dallaglio and Lewsey, who return to the side this afternoon - ground out a Premiership win at Newcastle, where grown men's eyes watered in the teeth of the North Sea gale. Points make prizes and Wasps, second only to Leicester and Bath in the modern era, love prizes. Abbott, whose last action was the closing 20 minutes of England's quarter-final against Wales, loved being back.

"I was dying to get a game because I hadn't been involved in the semi or the final," he said. "Luckily, while we were away Wasps did well and got up to third position in the Premiership. There was no trouble settling in, just a bit of time needed to get back into the pattern, the different kind of defence we use."

Defence has been a feature of Wasps' success, highlighted by the 39-3 crushing of Gloucester in May's Premiership final at Twickenham which earned them England's top seeding in Europe. Nicknamed the blitz, it was introduced by Warren Gatland, the director of rugby, and honed by his assistant, Shaun Edwards, the ex-rugby league international. Again, it is all about simple, solid virtues: teamwork, speed off the mark and mutual awareness among the back line - a short sharp charge up by the fly-half and threequarters which leaves the opposition with few options other than very swift passes wide or a chip over the top.

"We have got better at it during last season and into this," said Abbott. "It's totally different to an 'out and push' defence, luckily it seemed to work for us. I'll be slightly behind the 12 [Fraser Waters]. If he stops, I'll accelerate forward, that's the idea. Fraser's the big hitter, a bigger fellow! We'll carry on with it, although you play what's in front of you, and if the other side has a three-man overlap we'll switch to the push defence. Newcastle caught us a couple of times on the outside so there's a couple of things to brush up on."

Waters also hails from South Africa. There was a time when he and another Wasp, Mark Denney, were touted as England's future centres. It did not quite happen for them, but the sporting dice landed the right side up for Abbott, who joined Wasps in November 2001. "I'm really settled, I call London home and I'm glad to be here," he said. "I'm staying until I finish my rugby career, and I've no particular plans to go back to South Africa." He may miss out on England's celebration match against the New Zealand Barbarians on Saturday week, but is a certainty for the Six Nations' Championship squad. At 25, he can dream of France in four years' time, and the defence of the world title.

"The final in Sydney was an amazing experience," he said. "All the relief at the final whistle. The whole squad had to bring our boots to the game. It was policy after Danny Grewcock broke his toe in the warm-up for the first game. So we had to be prepared, just in case."

Abbott is prepared for a tough challenge from Perpignan, last season's Heineken runners-up who have made a raft of signings, including the Wallaby centre, Daniel Herbert, and England wing Dan Luger. "They pride themselves on having a big pack," said Abbott, "but to be honest we've got one of the biggest, strongest packs in the UK. So it's a massive game for both teams and hopefully we'll come out tops." And he smiled a winner's smile. A determined one, too.