Tackling the darker side of England's finest moment

It should have been a night of celebration. As they gathered together at the Dorchester Hotel, Sir Clive Woodward's heroes of 2003 were meant to commemorate a World Cup triumph that still represents the acme of English men’s rugby. But, as Matt Dawson explains, there was a strange atmosphere in the room. As he caught up with his colleagues two decades on from reaching the mountaintop, what became clear was just how many were struggling on the other side.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE RUGBY CORRESPONDENT

“It was very, very apparent that quite a few of the team had struggled in that transition out of sport,” Dawson explains. “A lot of people would say, ‘the guys of 2003 that won the World Cup? Are you mad? How could they be struggling mentally, physically or emotionally? They were these giants of men who conquered the world.’

“Everyone just assumes that everyone is well. To be a successful group, you need character, bravado, you need ego – there was plenty of that flying around. And I think we got to a position in our lives where everything was being dampened, because of where we were in our mid-forties and fifties. That realisation of, ‘we know where this ends, and it’s not a good spot usually’. So, let’s cut all the bullshit around it and try and do something about it.”

That venture has come to fruition in recent weeks with the launch of the Champions 2003 charity. Spearheaded by Ben Cohen and Dawson, among others, it aims to spotlight those transitioning out of rugby who are suffering physical and mental health issues, providing support in whatever form is required.

Some of the 2003 squad have been public in the battles they have fought; many have suffered in silence. Some of the group no longer watch rugby. A documentary on the group made by TNT Sports, titled Unbreakable, airs this week and is a difficult watch. Sequences involving Steve Thompson, who has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, telling Phil Vickery that he remembers nothing of the World Cup or even being in Australia at all are particularly tough.

Vickery himself was declared bankrupt earlier this year. Jonny Wilkinson has spoken regularly about the anxiety he experienced both during his career and since its conclusion. The physical demands rugby requires have taken a significant toll on several of the squad.