The former Gloucester and England prop has enjoyed reuniting with his former teammates for the ‘Unbreakable: England 2003’ documentary and it has taken now to be able to look back and fully understand all they achieved.

He told Rugby World magazine: “Whenever I walk into a room that has one of the boys that I won the World Cup with, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“I don’t know why or what spurs that but it was such a special time.

“20-odd years on, I’ve lived life a little bit. You think you know it all at 20. Then you hit your thirties and think you’ve cracked it. It’s not until you get to your 40s that you really understand what life is all about and can reflect on the impact of what you did.

“I think it comes across in the documentary and you know what? I don’t think I’ve ever really celebrated it, winning the World Cup.

“It sounds weird because yes, after it, we went out, enjoyed it, it was fantastic.

“But I don’t think I’ve ever really sat down and celebrated that achievement and my career, because it’s not what you do, is it?”

And Phil doesn’t often reflect on his and his teammates legacy from that era.

Asked if he considers the legacy they created, he said: “You do but not as much as you would think.

“I actually got a message from a guy following the documentary who said he remembers the day not for the rugby but for after the game, driving around Cornwall and seeing cars with England and Saint Piran flags hanging out the window.

“And seeing that made him go to Bude RFC and start playing rugby.

“That made me think, ‘Wow how amazing is that?’ But why has it taken a documentary to share that with me?”