Kitchener on brink of glory

Thursday 18th June 2009, 11:02AM BST.

Shropshire-based rugby hero Graham Kitchener is one game away from helping England become world champions.

Kitchener, from Baschurch, was part of the England under 20s team which beat South Africa in yesterday’s semi-final in Tokyo.

And the second row played a huge role in the victory, setting up two tries from line-outs.

Kitchener will now be hoping to get the nod to start in Sunday’s final against a formidable New Zealand side, who destroyed England in last year’s final 38-3 and beat Australia 31-17 in yesterday’s first game.

The England captain Calum Clark said: “I was massively proud of the boys. We can take lessons from last year’s final and we’re not prepared to let the same things happen again.

“Certainly I’m not. I feel personally I’ve come a long way since what happened last year.

“We’re approaching it differently as a team.”

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