ENGLAND’S World Cup cricket triumph has fired the imagination of their rugby counterparts after Eddie Jones’s squad gathered together to watch the dramatic victory over New Zealand.

Brad Shields revealed that the nerve-shredding scenes in Sunday’s final at Lord’s brought home the reality that Japan 2019 is fast approaching, with the second training camp of the summer already under way in Bristol.

Shields was born and raised in New Zealand but made his debut for England against South Africa in 2018, qualifying through his English parents, and was cheering on Eoin Morgan’s one-day heroes.

“We had a team meeting after the final so that kept being pushed back and back because the final was still going with the super over!” Shields said.

“The emotion in the room when England won really showed, it was crazy. It brought us down to earth, making some of us realise ‘now this is real, we can be those people on TV.’

“I’m glad I was with the team to watch it. To know we’re capable of that and to have that opportunity is pretty cool.

“I wanted England to win! Because of the final being at Lord’s, it was fitting for England to win.

“We know that we could be the next team to win the World Cup for England and that’s our goal.”