WALES prop Tomas Francis doesn’t think he’ll ever play in a game as big as the 28-25 win over England on Saturday.

The Welshman locked horns with Sussex’s Joe Marler at Twickenham, and despite the Harlequins prop getting the better of his opposite number, it was Francis who ended up on the victorious side.

Three years ago he was playing for Malton and Norton in Yorkshire Division One, and on Saturday he was part of a Welsh squad who etched their names into the World Cup record books with a stunning comeback.

He’s only completed one season of Premiership rugby with Exeter Chiefs, but thanks to a grandmother in Abercrave, Warren Gatland pulled him into the Wales squad ahead of Lions tighthead Adam Jones.

His rise has been remarkable, and talking of Saturday, he said: “That’s the biggest game I’ve ever played in and probably ever will – I’ll never play England again at a World Cup at Twickenham. It was magical.

“It was very nervy especially when they got the penalty and went for the corner. My heart was going but the boys saw it out well, it was unbelievable.

“Twelve months ago I didn’t think I’d be at a World Cup, so I can’t really put it into words – my rise has been ridiculous.”

On a personal level, he was outdone by Marler in the set piece as England’s scrum dominated.

Francis said: “We sorted it out in the end and my last two scrums were better.

“We fixed it on our feet, but it just took us a bit too long to do that.

“They targeted us and they’d clearly done their homework, but I thought we came back in the last two scrums.”

If England had the upper hand in the set piece, Wales were far superior defending mauls, and it’s no coincidence according to the prop.

“That’s the bonus of having five second rows in the squad – you’ve got two people who aren’t involved in a matchday who can run opposition lineouts at you all day,” he said.

“That’s something we’ve worked on all week.

“There were a lot of walk-throughs and it all paid off.”

Wales were once again decimated by injuries with Scott Williams and Hallam Amos ruled out of the tournament with knee and shoulder problems respectively and Liam Williams declared unfit to play against Fiji after Tom Wood’s boot caught him in the head.

Wales finished the game with a wing in the centre, a scrum-half on the wing and a fly-half at fullback, but Francis conceded knocks were part of the game.

He said: “It’s hard, but that’s the way we play.

“We put our bodies on the line for each other.”