England hooker Mark Regan was at his combative best, and he was not packing down against the South Africans. Instead he was taking a swipe at teammate Lawrence Dallaglio, who he said had 'lost the plot' in a bid to rake in the shekels.
Regan dismissed Dallaglio's claim that England were like a 'pub team' at the Rugby World Cup, saying that it was just a marketing ploy by the backrower to sell his new autobiography.
'If you want real stories, I got loads of them. But to say that we were like a pub team, and accuse Brian [England coach Ashton] of not having the skills for the job is rubbish,' Regan said.
'Maybe we bonded like a pub team, especially after our first loss to South Africa in the pool game, but to imply that we had all the organisational skills of a pub team was untrue. It was just a gimmick by Dallaglio to sell his new book,' he said.
The Bristol front-rower, who came out of international retirement earlier this year and became the number one choice for hooker at the World Cup, was in Hong Kong for the annual Sevens Long Lunch.
And even though a fortnight had passed since South Africa defeated England to win the World Cup at the Stade de France, the disappointment is still crystal clear in his mind.
'Yes, the disappointment still lingers. It would have been nice to have had two World Cup winners' medals,' says Regan, who was part of the victorious 2003 team. 'But we didn't get the rub of the green and that cost us.'
The 35-year-old British Lion (in 1997 in South Africa where he was kept out by Keith Woods and only played in the last test) was talking about the controversial try scored by winger Mark Cueto which was disallowed by the video referee after almost three minutes of deliberation. His view went down well with the English supporters in the audience.
'It was a try, definitely. We had all trooped back to the halfway mark for we were so certain that Mark had scored and that his foot wasn't in touch. It was a crucial decision. If we had been awarded, it would have given us a huge boost.
'We needed luck, but we didn't get it. At the same time, I think indiscipline cost us. We gave away too many penalties,' he added.
With Long Lunch regulars Chris 'Buddha' Handy and David Fordham flanking him during the Q&A session, Regan took great delight in giving as good as he got to the Australian commentators. And it was just natural that the Wallabies came in for plenty of stick.
Matt Dunning and the rest of the Australian front row were labelled as the Teletubbies by Regan, who said his best moment at the World Cup was to see the Wallabies exit.
'They were absolutely c***. They didn't have a front row to talk about. I believe the Australian Rugby Union wants a new rule change - to do away with the scrum,' he joked. 'Beating the Aussies was my best moment. Beating the French came in a close second.'
In 2003, England went into the World Cup as the world's number one team, and lived up to that reputation. It wasn't the case this year. They had struggled in the Six Nations and lost a series in South Africa. No one expected them to go far.
'When we lost 36-0 to South Africa in the pool match, we all got back to our hotel and had a meeting which changed our fortunes around. Brian Ashton asked us whether we wanted to go down in history as the worst defending champions by not getting past the quarter-finals.
'We responded. Of course the return of Jonny Wilkinson helped. He is a world-class player and gets the backline working. We came together as a unit. It also helped that we were in a tough pool. But the time we got past Samoa and Tonga, we were battle-hardened and ready to rock 'n' roll.
'Australia, meanwhile, had had it easy in their group. And of course they did not have a scrum,' laughed Regan. 'And we had Jonny back in the team.'
Victory over Australia in the quarter-finals gave England momentum. Their sweet chariot rolled merrily past the French in the semis - 'it was sweet beating the French at home' - and England were in the final. But for that disallowed try, Regan believes he would have been talking to the Hong Kong fans as a two-time World Cup winner.
'It would have been nice to have gone and seen the queen again,' smiled Regan who is returning to Hong Kong for the first time since touring with the Penguins in 1992.
Introduced as the cider-drinking Bristolian who loved rap music, Regan seems to have been reinvigorated by his return to international rugby and says he has no plans to retire again - he first retired in 2004 - right now.
'I will go back to Bristol play in the Premiership. And If I'm called upon to play for England, I will be more than happy to front up,' said Regan, who has won 43 caps for his country.
He picked Wilkinson as the key player in the England team at the World Cup and, from the opposition, went for South African lineout specialist Victor Matfield.
Buddha asked: 'And the best coach you have played under?' Regan did not go for Ashton, but rather Jack Rowell.
'Rowell was straight-talking and honest. When I first joined England, he called me Martin for six weeks. That really p***ed me off and I wanted to prove myself more.'
What about World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward. 'He was called Woodward the Bus. He was no coach,' swiped Regan.
Under Woodward's reign, Regan got limited game time, similar to Dallaglio with Ashton. But unlike Dallaglio, Regan has no warts-and-all story. 'It is wrong to wash dirty linen in public. He just wants to sell his book.'