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England faces final with guns blazing

England's flyhalf Johnny Wilkinson practises his kicking at Telstra Stadium yesterday ahead of today's Rugby World Cup final clash against Australia. PHOTO: AP

England coach Clive Woodward can barely believe his luck to be heading into today's World Cup final against Australia with his first-choice lineup intact.

"To be frank, I'm pinching myself to have arrived at a World Cup final and go into the game absolutely full strength," Woodward said yesterday.

"There is no other player that I'd pick in that team tomorrow, including the bench. So to be in that position is just fantastic, it's a dream."

Nonetheless, Woodward said he and his team were wary of the Australians.

"I've made it quite clear how I think the Australians will play tomorrow night," he said. "There's no doubt they're going to throw everything they've got at this England team.

"I think they're going to try and play a lot quicker than us and they're going to try and play very wide and very direct.

"We have a huge amount of respect for this team, even more so after they just demolished the All Blacks last week, and that wasn't even a close game," Woodward added.

"I've made it quite clear how I think the Australians will play tomorrow night. There's no doubt they're going to throw everything they've got at this England team."

Clive Woodward, England coach

As for his team, Woodward said the preparation for the final had been "as good as it gets."

"We're very pleased and proud of our preparation, it's not something we take lightly," he said. "We got ourselves in this position and we're very clearly here to win this Webb Ellis Cup. If we come second, we're going to be extremely disappointed."

But with the world No. 1 ranking and an era of dominance dating back at least two years, England is also confident in its ability to win.

"All I want to say is that we're confident and extremely respectful of the Australian team, especially when we're playing on their home ground," he said. "We're very, very excited about the occasion, but we just want to win the game and go home.

"We've got a proven way of winning these test matches and now is not the time to change too much."

Today's final will be officiated by South Africa's Andre Watson, a man Woodward describes as "the world's best referee."

"One of the major successes of the tournament so far has been the refereeing, because I can't recall many people talking about it," Woodward said.

"There have been very few bad incidents, hardly any citing offenses and [Watson's] looking forward to tomorrow's game and so are we."

But Woodward said the team was aware that any infringements could have dire consequences.

"If we do anything illegal we're going to get penalized and lose the game," he said. "Much has been said about [Jonny] Wilkinson's kicking, but [Elton] Flatley has a higher success rate this tournament."

George Gregan doesn't know if he's destined to win back-to-back World Cups and doesn't really care too much for forecasts or predictions.

"I don't believe in destiny. I believe in reality," the Australian scrumhalf said yesterday. "Sport brings you back to reality pretty quickly. I also believe in hard work and planning.

"Sport provides opportunities, and it's whether or not you can take them -- whether or not you're good enough on the night and then fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it, falls into your hands."

Australia is the only nation to win the World Cup twice, and the Webb Ellis Cup has never been won by a northern hemisphere nation.

Gregan is one of six Wallabies in the 22-man squad for the final who were part of Australia's winning campaign four years ago.

Replacement prop Jason Leonard, a veteran of a record 112 tests, is the only survivor of England's last appearance in the World Cup final -- a 12-6 loss to Australia in 1991.

While England has been a favorite since entering the tournament ranked No. 1 and has won 21 of its last 22 tests, the Australians had a mixed preparation.

The Wallabies lost to England in Australia for the first time in June, going down 25-14 to extend a losing sequence to the English to four matches, then lost to South Africa and twice to New Zealand.

The form was scratchy in the pool stages, struggling in a 24-8 opening win over Argentina, thrashing Romania and Namibia and struggling for a one-point win over Ireland.

The Wallabies had a tough time against Scotland in the quarterfinals, winning 33-16 despite conceding a glut of possession through handling errors.

Gregan admitted the Wallabies were most nervous before the quarterfinal, because it was the start of the knock-out phase.

After heavy criticism of its performances against the Celtic nations, something clicked against New Zealand and the 22-10 semifinal has silenced the critics.

"You feel responsible every time you wear the Wallaby jumper. You're representing each other and obviously your country," Gregan said. "It's obviously at a stage now were the whole country is right behind us."

He said there was composure in the squad this week, although it had been restless ahead of the quarterfinal.

"Once you get in there ... you've done the preparation, you've put yourself in the position, it's just a matter of backing yourself and being confident and positive," he said.

"That's where we are at the moment -- the team has a quiet confidence."
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