PENZANCE rugby star Luke Cowan-Dickie admits it is going to take some time to come down from the euphoria of helping England U20s record a stunning victory over New Zealand in the Junior World Championship semi-final on Tuesday night.
The young Exeter Chiefs star, formely a student at Truro College and ex Cornish Pirate, made an incredible 25 tackles as the Baby Blacks were overturned 33-21 in Vannes. Tries from Matt Hankin, Anthony Watson and Tom Smallbone handing England a superb victory.
The 19-year-old was understandably delighted after the win which banished the memories of England's disappointing eighth place finish last year.
He said: "I don't think it's sunk in yet. Just to beat New Zealand was one thing but to get to the JWC final as well was something else altogether.
"Obviously last year we didn't do so well, so we spoke to the younger guys and said we've really got to do something this time round. We've come together and we're working really hard for each other – to get to the final is class."
A dominant opening 40 minutes saw England go into half-time 20-8 up, but they were made to work hard for their victory in the second half.
Cowan-Dickie said: "It felt like we were defending most of the game, especially during the few minutes when they scored their try.
"They were on our five-metre line for a good while and it felt like it was never going to end, but to get the win was brilliant.
"Obviously we knew that England had never beaten New Zealand in the JWC so there was a bit of pressure on there.
"To see the haka was really good – the boys just got pumped from it because you see how much they want it. I guess it made our boys get a bit more up for it."
Cowan-Dickie will now focus on the final against Wales who claimed a memorable win of their own, beating South Africa thanks to fly half Sam Davies' last-gasp touchline conversion.
Cowan-Dickie said: "They've played a lot better than they did in the Six Nations and they're definitely going to bring a lot more against us in the final. We can't go into the game thinking we'll beat them just because we have before.
"We've got that extra day off, so we can get some extra training and analysis in, looking at how they have been playing and trying to counter-act it and get the win."
