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With a drop goal in the last minute of extra time,
Jonny Wilkinson secured the first ever northern hemisphere victory
in the Rugby World Cup final on 22 November as England supporters in
Sydney, at home and around the world went wild with joy.
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:. England ended the first half of the fiercely fought match in
Sydney’s Telstra Stadium 5-14 ahead after three Wilkinson penalties
and a magnificent Jason Robinson try. But within 10 seconds of an
England victory, Australia’s Elton Flatley levelled the scores at
14-14 with a penalty kick.
Fans were in a frenzy, when an extra time Wilkinson penalty took
England to 17-14 only for Flatley to again level it at 17-17 with
just two minutes left. But with true ‘never say die’ attitude,
England kept on fighting till the end, and what an end it was.
England – champions of the world – as Head Coach Clive Woodward put
it, “These memories will live forever.” After a riotous welcome at
Heathrow Airport to greet England’s rugby heroes as they arrived
home with the Webb Ellis Trophy, fly half Jonny Wilkinson said, “The
team was overawed by the support as we were coming into the airport.
Seeing that was hugely humbling.”
In response to journalists at the team’s hotel base in Bagshot he
said, “I am desperately keen to maintain the lifestyle I have and
will always want to enjoy my game of rugby at the weekend. The only
way I can enjoy that rugby is to know I have prepared as well as I
can and performed for the people who are watching and who have paid
for it. The Rugby World Cup was a hugely intense part of my life and
there were huge expectations but seeing Martin Johnson and the rest
of the guys being able to simply get on with it was something I have
learned from immensely. In every sense I know I have been lucky
enough to be involved in this set up.”
Of his old school, Lord Wandsworth he said, “I was very lucky to go
to that school and it contributed a massive amount to allowing me to
have the life I have, to try to find out what sort of person I was.
I got a huge amount from the people back there. I will certainly
remember going there and be grateful for the people there and what I
learned.”
Clive Woodward, sitting behind the Webb Ellis trophy, told the
media, “The support from the England fans in the stadium in Sydney
is something we’ll never forget and seeing everyone at the airport
was very, very special. When we saw so many white shirts it was just
fantastic. To have so many people at the airport, especially at that
time in the morning, makes you proud to be English and proud to come
home. Winning the World Cup was a massive credit to Martin Johnson
and the team, we have worked very hard for it. This is a very
experienced group of players. I have no doubt their lives will be
changed to a certain degree but they will take it in their stride as
professional sportsmen. They will handle all this calmly and enjoy
it. We should be very proud of them and of what they are doing for
rugby.”
England Captain Martin Johnson said, “When you’re away playing in
the Rugby World Cup, although you have such massive support, you are
cocooned a little bit because it is a game of rugby and you need to
win it. We had no idea what was going on at home and to see all the
fans here to meet us was something we will never forget.”
Asked by journalists if he would now think of retiring, he said,
“People have been asking me that for 18 months but you don’t think
of retiring when you are going into a Rugby World Cup. A number of
us are getting a bit older and have to fend off those questions. But
this is not the right time to make those kind of decisions. You need
to make them when you have time to reflect, to talk to the coaches
and your family. You never want to leave playing for England,
especially when you are winning. It’s a decision you have to make
for yourself and I will do that when the time is right.
“At the moment I’m just heading back to my club. We are all going
back to our clubs, that is what we do for a living. Like everyone
else we have to go to work tomorrow morning. The strength of the
domestic league game contributed to England’s success. We are used
to playing very competitive rugby week in and week out and we found
ourselves in the World Cup feeling that we were the stronger team,
the tougher team. I don’t think that many of the squad are that
comfortable in the limelight. We are the same people we were on the
Saturday morning before we played in the World Cup final, although
we are grateful for the support of the fans and humbled by it.”
A journalist asked Andy Robinson whether he knew that in the Bath
clubhouse supporters had been puzzled by Andre Watson’s refereeing
of the scrummage in the final and whether they had exchanged words
afterwards. “We have not actually had time to look at the video,”
said Andy. “We need to do that and at all the occasions when we have
given penalties away and look to address that. We did have a quiet
word with him after the game but he said, ‘look at the tapes’. So we
will look at them and take it from there.” Lawrence Dallaglio said
the squad had found their homecoming overwhelming. “We worked
incredibly hard to get to where we are today. We’ve done it step by
step and at the end of it was the World Cup.”
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He said that he felt the status of northern hemisphere rugby had
been raised by this World Cup, by talent displayed not just by
England but by Ireland, Wales and by Scotland and having the next
Rugby World Cup in France would certainly build on this.
Asked about the emotion everyone saw on his face at the start of the
semi final he said, “It is an emotional time and the France game was
certainly one we were very pumped up for. After the match guys take
it in different ways but when you are all in there together in the
changing room afterwards and you can close the doors and realize you
have actually won it’s amazing. As for the support, we could feel it
building from the time we arrived and from the quarter finals you
could feel that the number of England fans was growing and growing.
To see all the white and red shirts inspired the players for the
final and victory was as much down to that as to the team.”
Will Greenwood, eager to head off to see his partner Caro, said,
“She watched the match although she couldn’t be there but to have
the wives and girlfriends around certainly helped the squad.”
Talking of the baby that they lost, he said, “Freddy is always with
me and, of course, the plan would have been to have him and his mum
out there. He would have been about eight months old. He will always
be our first child and we are hoping for a little brother or sister
for Freddy soon. Losing him is something I have had to live with but
the rugby is a real release for me, especially playing Australia in
the Rugby World Cup final. I am not the only person in the squad who
has had heartache. We are 31 tough guys who have been through a lot,
good times, bad times but we keep getting up and asking for more and
what we have been through we have learned from.
“As Vince Lombardi said, sport is not about never falling over, it’s
about getting up every time you do and out there at the World Cup
final when Elton Flatley sent another penalty between the posts
there was not one look of panic and not one look of fear. These were
the same guys we had trained and played with and it stood us in good
stead. We knew if we were tired they would be more tired because our
pack had done such a good job.”
Matt Dawson said that he felt Jonny Wilkinson had been exceptional
at dealing with the pressures that surrounded him. “We have all been
surrounded by fantastic and very professional people and they will
ensure that we have as smooth a ride as possible in our futures.
Sitting here in front of all the media, having just left thousands
of fans and a fantastic atmosphere at the airport, it doesn’t get
much better than coming home.
“We have all had hundreds of messages and faxes and it’s one of
those times when each of the players in the squad thinks of the
people or the moments in their lives that have got them to where
they are today. Certainly, part of that for me is my school at RGS
High Wycombe. I know they are very proud of me and I am very proud
to have gone there, it was a huge part of my rugby development.
“Going back to Northampton will be great, it’s a huge rugby town and
Keith Barwell has created great passion at Franklins Gardens. Four
of the lads and the physio are going back there and hopefully we’ll
take the trophy there one day to show it to the town.”
Ben Cohen, whose smile seemed to have set at permanent, talked of
the impact the win might have on the game in England. “Being a
successful side I hope will see more people playing the game. I’m
sure that they will and I know that the RFU pumps a lot of money
into the grass roots. I just hope that a lot more players get
involved and enjoy playing rugby.”
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