England’s dramatic final push for Rugby World Cup glory in Sydney 20 years ago had one of Clive Woodward’s favourite acronyms laced all the way through it.
Woodward loved his buzz words and phrases – “doing 100 things one per cent better than the opposition” was one particular stand-out – but nothing came close to ‘T-CUP’.
Thinking Correctly Under Pressure was at the very heart of England head coach Woodward’s all-conquering team, and they delivered a masterclass during a nerve-shredding climax that culminated in Jonny Wilkinson’s drop-goal for the ages.
Locked 17-17 with host nation Australia as the extra-time clock ticked down, England triumphed with what they knew would be their final scoring chance.
Lewis Moody received the ball at the back of a lineout, then Mike Catt ran at Australia’s defence and scrum-half Matt Dawson gained further vital ground by slicing through a gap before he was halted and became trapped at the bottom of a ruck.
Amid no sense of panic, though, England captain Martin Johnson carried possession on into a wall of gold Australian shirts, giving Dawson time to regain his position before his pass found Wilkinson, whose winning strike – from the fly-half’s weaker right foot – sailed between the posts.
“I’d had a couple of goes before which were very much pot-shots, having a dig almost,” Wilkinson told the PA news agency on the 10th anniversary of England’s World Cup triumph in 2013.
“But for this one I was thinking that because of where the guys had put me, I can’t miss. This must go over.
“I knew I had hit it in such a way that it wasn’t going to be the most powerful kick, but it was going to be accurate. I knew from fairly early on it was going over.
“It felt like a surreal, dream-like situation. I had to ask ‘is this really happening?'”
Mission accomplished meant that England became the first northern hemisphere nation to be crowned rugby union world champions, but measuring their success accurately requires a rewind to events before Woodward’s heroes even set foot in Australia.
During the four-year World Cup cycle between South African Jannie de Beer drop-kicking England out of the 1999 tournament and Wilkinson’s clincher, England played 40 Test matches – and lost only five.
New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and France were beaten away from home, England won all 20 games they played at Twickenham during that time and landed three out of four Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam just over six months before an opening World Cup appointment with Georgia in Perth.
If anyone still questioned England’s pedigree, they then removed all doubt about world title potential with victories over New Zealand in Wellington and Australia in Melbourne as the World Cup loomed.
For those of us there to witness every twist and turn, England’s World Cup campaign undoubtedly had its speed-bump moments – notably a major quarter-final scare provided by Wales in Brisbane before England prevailed 28-17 – but ultimately, defending world champions Australia, coached by Eddie Jones, stood between them and sporting immortality.
While the final might not have been a classic in pure rugby terms, its see-saw nature gripped an 82,957 audience inside Stadium Australia and millions watching on television worldwide, with home fans inspired by the Wallabies’ stonewall refusal to buckle.
They trailed 14-5 at half-time as Jason Robinson’s try highlighted English dominance, but Elton Flatley’s nerveless goalkicking kept Australia in contention and ensured extra time would be required.
Wilkinson’s fourth successful penalty put England back in front, only for Flatley to come up trumps once more, but even he ran out of time following a final English flourish with less than 30 seconds left.
At last, England could celebrate, not only on the night, but until Sunday sunrise and beyond as the full magnitude of their achievement dawned. The best team on the planet had won the World Cup.
More spectacular scenes awaited them at Heathrow and on a victory parade through central London as British sport basked in the glow generated by Woodward’s golden generation.
“We all said to ourselves before the game that we had to enjoy it, take it all in and remember it – because you probably won’t be back,” Leicester star Johnson recalled, as around 500 England supporters thronged the promenade outside England’s Manly beach-front hotel the day after the final.
“We were on the bus on the way back from the game last night. It was about 1.30-1.45 in the morning, the rain was coming down, it was pretty black and quiet, and we had no idea what was going on back home. I am sure we will find out when we get back.
“One similarity between Leicester and Sydney is that at five o’clock in the morning you couldn’t get a cab, and it was pouring with rain! So I had to walk home from where we were to my wife’s hotel. It took me about an hour.”
And with that, it was off to the World Rugby awards in downtown Sydney as the party continued – this time without a tea-cup in sight.
Borthwick names unchanged starting England team for Australia clash
Steve Borthwick has named an unchanged starting team for England's match against Australia on Saturday with two changes on the bench.
England enter their second November Test looking to bounce back from their narrow 24-22 defeat to New Zealand last weekend.
Borthwick, however has elected to name the same group that started against the All Blacks, though Henry Slade will shift to inside centre, while Ollie Lawrence moves to outside centre.
Marcus Smith retains his place at fly-half while Jamie George continues to lead the side at hooker, but there is no place for Theo Dan or Ben Curry.
The pair are replaced by Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ollie Sleightholme as England move from a six-two split between forwards and backs to a five-three combination.
Hooker Cowan-Dickie will make his first England appearance since November 2022 if he is introduced off the bench.
“Facing Australia is always a massive challenge, and we’ll work diligently this week to ensure we’re physically and tactically prepared to take on the Wallabies,” said Borthwick.
“The passion and energy from the crowd at Allianz Stadium last weekend was absolutely brilliant, from the opening whistle to the final moments, and we can't wait to be back at home this Saturday."
England squad in full:
George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer; Ellis Genge, Jamie George (captain), Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Ollie Sleightholme
Smith not pinning blame on Ford for England loss
Marcus Smith does not blame England's narrow defeat to New Zealand on Saturday on George Ford, despite his late missed kicks.
Ford replaced Smith, who had scored 17 points and set up England's only try in their 24-22 loss, hitting a potential match-winning penalty against the post before narrowly missing a drop goal.
England had held an eight-point advantage when Smith left the field, but Mark Tele'a's 76th-minute try before Damian McKenzie added five late points proved enough to get the All Blacks over the line.
The hosts' autumn series got off to a losing start as Ford struggled to find his clinical edge in the dying moments, but Smith does not lay any blame at his team-mate's feet.
"Sometimes that's the life of a kicker, we've all experienced that. It's part and parcel of the job," said Smith.
"I've learned so much off George. He's an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.
"It's nothing to do with him why we didn't win the game. It's a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.
"We practise [drop-goals] as kickers every single day, but sometimes it doesn't go for you. We're all human and people miss."
Saturday marked a third consecutive narrow loss to New Zealand for England, with their last win an emphatic victory over Japan in June.
Despite that run, Smith remains confident that England can take lessons from these defeats to set themselves up for success in the future.
"International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we're experiencing now are very painful, but we'll be better for them," Smith added.
"Keep the faith. We've fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we'll learn from it 100%.
"These experiences will tighten us as a group, and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it."
England 'banging on the door' of rugby's elite, says proud Borthwick
Steve Borthwick reckons England are "banging on the door" of the elite nations after their close loss to New Zealand.
England went down 24-22 to the All Blacks in Saturday's Test match at Twickenham.
Mark Tele'a scored the decisive try for New Zealand, who beat England twice in July, in the 76th minute.
England missed the chance to win it late on when George Ford missed a drop-goal attempt, after he had struck the post with a penalty.
But coach Borthwick, who was immensely proud of his team, feels England showed they are capable of mixing it with the best teams in the world, despite losing four of their last five Tests.
"It is a mixture of immense pride at the performance against a very tough New Zealand team and one of incredible disappointment," Borthwick told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"They are the emotions we balance and will work through over the next few days.
"When we started two years ago we wanted to get England right to the top of world rugby again. You can see the team banging on the door."
With the pre-match build-up having been dominated by Joe Marler's jibe at New Zealand's pre-match haka routine, tries from Tele'a and Will Jordan put New Zealand in control.
Marcus Smith's penalties kept England in contention, though, and he set up the hosts' only try when he intercepted a loose pass and teed up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Yet England ultimately failed to hold on to an eight-point advantage, with Ford having to be consoled by his team-mates after the match.
Next up for England are Australia, with fixtures against South Africa and Japan also in store.
"We really have to find a way of winning these close ones," said captain Jamie George. "We put ourselves in a really good position after 60 minutes.
"Eight points is a lot in Test match rugby but we probably went chasing the game a bit and gave away too many penalties. We have to be smarter in that respect."
England walked up to the halfway line to face the haka, something George explained was planned prior to Marler's comments.
"That was always our plan before Joe's comments but we did it in a respectful way," said George. "I saw a smile on Scott Barrett’s face, I was smiling, and it was done in good spirits."
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