2003 Rugby World Cup Final

The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was won by England who defeated Australia 20 to 17. The match went into extra time, in which Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to seal England's win.

Path to the final

Australia opened the 2003 Rugby World Cup at Telstra Stadium in Sydney, where they defeated Argentina 24 points to 8. The next two pool games were against tier 3 nations Romania and Namibia. The match against Namibia resulted in a 142-0 scoreline. The last pool match was against Ireland at Telstra Dome in Sydney, where the Wallabies escaped with a one point win, 17 to 16. They finished clearly on top of their pool, with 18 table points and a massive for and against.

England were in Pool C, and kicked off their campaign with an 84 to 6 win over Georgia, which was then followed by a match against their biggest opposition in the pool, South Africa. However, England defeated the Springboks 25 to 6. Their third pool match against Samoa was a lot closer, England winning 35 to 22. Their final pool match was against Uruguay, an England won 111 to 13. England finished first in their pool, four table points ahead of the Springboks.

Australia met Scotland in the quarter finals at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, and defeated them 33 to 16 to go through to the semis, where they would take on their old rivals, the All Blacks. England defeated Wales in their quarter final, 28 to 17, and went through to meet France in the semis. The Wallabies prevailed 22 to 10 over New Zealand at Telstra Stadium. The following day England defeated France 24-7 at the same venue.

Match summary

Kick-off was preceded by performances including Kate Ceberano singing"True Colours" (a theme throughout the World Cup), the Sydney's Children Choir and the Rugby World Choir singing the Rugby World Cup's official theme song, "World in Union". Following these performances, the traditional national anthems were performed by Australia ("Advance Australia Fair") and England ("God Save the Queen").

The first points of the match were scored by Australia, as Tuqiri scored a try in the sixth minute, taking the Wallabies to a 5-0 lead. Wilkinson kicked a penalty goal for England in the 11th minute, bringing the score to 5-3. Another penalty goal by Wilkinson in the 20th minute took England in front, 5-6. England got another penalty goal in the 28th minute, making it 5-9. Robinson then scored a try for England in the 38th minute, the score at 5-14 for half time.

Flatley kicked a penalty goal for Australia at the 47th minute, taking the score to 8-14. In the 61st minute, Flatley kicked another penalty goal for Australia, with the score now 11-14. Flatley kicked a penalty goal on the 80th minute, taking the score to 14-all, and the match headed into extra-time. Wilkinson kicked a penalty in the 82nd minute, the score then 14-17. Flatley kicked a penalty in the 97th minute, and the score drew level once again at 17-all. After having the ball returned to England from a Mat Rogers kick, and with 26 seconds on the clock, Wilkinson kicked a final drop goal and England won 17-20.

Match details

rugbybox
date = 2003-11-22
20:00
home = ru-rt|AUS
score = 17 – 20
away = ru|ENG
homescore = Try: Tuqiri 6' m
Pen: Flatley (4)
awayscore = Try: Robinson 38' m
Pen: Wilkinson (4) Drop: Wilkinson 100'
stadium = Telstra Stadium, Sydney
attendance = 82,957cite web | work=abc.net.au | title=England wins World Cup |url=http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/s995166.htm| accessdate=2006-09-18]
referee = André Watson flagicon|RSA

tatistics

:

Post-final

The English squad arrived at London's Heathrow Airport to a huge reception of English fans. Captain Martin Johnson, holding the World Cup trophy was the first player to appear, which resulted in a celebration of singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". Scrum-half Matt Dawson described the reception as "mind blowing" and hooker Steve Thompson said that "Walking through Heathrow was breathtaking". cite news | author=BBC Sport | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3232174.stm | title=England rugby heroes arrive home | publisher=bbc.co.uk | date=2003-11-25 | accessdate=2006-06-07]

A national day of celebration was held on Monday, December 8 for the English rugby team. Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the streets of London to pay tribute to the World Cup victory. The English team waited at the Marble Arch, until the Mayor of Westminster cut a red ribbon to signify the start of the parade. The two open-buses started to make their way down Oxford St, accompanied by numerous police (Scotland Yard estimated 500 were to be used for the parade). The players are all dressed in grey suits with blue shirts and red ties, and some have video cameras and cameras, as they take turns holding the trophy as the bus rolls through the ticker-tape parade and amidst thousands of white balloons and streets at a stand-still, with people even hanging off lamp posts and traffic lights to get a look at the team. Jason Leonard says to reporters on board that "We've got the best fans in the world".

The buses then turn down Regents St and thousands of fans start to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as the buses make their way onto Piccadilly Circus. The buses then make their way through Haymarket and onwards toward Trafalgar Square where hundreds of thousands of people are waiting. As the buses become visible from Trafalgar Square, the crowd starts to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as the squad approaches. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London then awards the whole squad the freedom of London. The English squad then went onto meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace, followed by a reception at Downing Street with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

ee also

* Cook Cup

References

External links

* [http://www.rwc2003.irb.com/EN/Audio+Video/match+48.htm Australia v England - Final] - rwc2003.irb.com
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3227648.stm Australia 17-20 England]