Fri, Dec 26, 2003 page22

• Wilkinson breaks hearts of Aussies

  RUGBY YEAR IN REVIEW The kick heard around the world gave England its first World Cup victory -- the first by any team coming from the Northern hemisphere

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  To anyone from Australia and New Zealand, it was too much to bear: Jonny Wilkinson kicking a drop goal 26 seconds from the end of extra time to clinch the World Cup for England.

  The kick gave Clive Woodward's team a 20-17 victory over host and defending champion Australia at Sydney's Olympic Stadium as England became the first Northern Hemisphere team to win rugby's greatest prize.

  

  England's Jonny Wilkinson kicks a drop goal to win the Rugby World Cup final between Australia and England at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney on Nov. 22. England won in extra time 20-17.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  The fact that victory came seven months after an elusive Six Nations Grand Slam made it even more satisfying for Woodward, whose team had become the butt of rivals' jokes for so many near misses.

  Organizers of the 20-nation World Cup were criticized for drawing it out over six weeks. But the final had so much drama it seemed almost worth the wait.

  Australia hit back from 14-5 down at halftime, with Elton Flatley making it 14-14 on a penalty two minutes from the end of regulation time. Another penalty leveled it at 17-17 in extra time, and the final appeared to be headed for sudden-death scoring, until Wilkinson's right-footed drop goal ended 16 years of Southern Hemisphere domination.

  The kick transformed Wilkinson into a megastar, and, when some 750,000 people clogged central London for an England victory parade, most eyes were on the modest flyhalf.

  "I see it as something that's happened to me because of what everyone else has done," he said. "I keep putting that across, but it's true.

  "Because of the individuality of the kicking, I seem to get singled out, but it's down to everyone else."

  While the World Cup showed that English rugby continued to be on the rise, it gave the Australians, All Blacks and South Africans plenty to think about.

  The Wallabies, until their heroics in the final and semifinals when they beat New Zealand 22-10, were lackluster and coach Eddie Jones was criticized for his team selections. In midyear, Australia lost three straight tests for the first time since 1995.

  The All Blacks easily won the Tri-Nations, reeled off 11 successive wins, and were favored to meet England in the World Cup final, but were outplayed by the Wallabies in the semis.

  New Zealand was credited with playing the most exciting rugby all year, and unveiled the heir apparent to great winger Jonah Lomu -- Joe Rokocoko, who scored 17 tries in 11 tests.

  Lomu, battling a rare kidney illness for years, suffered full kidney failure in June and was on dialysis daily, but put off a transplant to try and resurrect his illustrious career.

  Springboks

  South Africa arrived at the World Cup under a cloud after a year's poor performances and a racial controversy ignited by two players who didn't make it to the finals. Geo Cronje, who is white, reportedly refused to room with black squad player Quinton Davids.

  Crushed by New Zealand in the quarterfinals, the Springboks went home early to another scandal over a pre-World Cup military-style boot camp.

  Photographs and video footage showed Springbok players stripped naked and huddled together in a pit. Others showed them crawling naked through the grass, lugging railway tracks, and lined up to have eggs cracked over their heads.

  The revelations led to the resignations of coach Rudi Straeuli, managing director Rian Oberholzer and president Silas Nkanunu.

  "For the recalcitrant, the unbending, the devious and the racist, we say there will be no place for you to hide anymore in our world of rugby," new South Africa president Brian van Rooyen said after his appointment. "Your departure starts right here, right now."

  The French came out of the World Cup with bittersweet feelings.

  Coach Bernard Laporte's young team had discovered a word which had been missing from the language of French rugby -- consistency.

  In flyhalf Frederic Michalak, they unleashed a standout kicker as well as an imaginative passer. Centers Yannick Jauvion and Tony Marsh always looked capable of slicing through defenses -- except England's.

  France's loss

  The French lost 24-7 to England in a semifinal lashed by rain in Sydney, but their next campaign will be on home ground after the IRB's majority vote to give France the 2007 World Cup, ahead of England's bid.

  The World Cup was a fan and financial success, ending with a US$32 million profit for Australia, but there was criticism of the IRB for not doing enough to help the lesser nations.

  The likes of Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Namibia were undermanned at the World Cup because their overseas players feared leaving their club employers. And a proposed nine-nation tournament featuring the Tri-Nations and Six Nations teams was received by the also-rans as the rich nations looking out for themselves again.

  In the Tri-Nations, New Zealand swept the event and won it in consecutive years, highlighted by inflicting the worst ever home defeats to South Africa 52-16 in Pretoria, and to Australia 50-21 in Sydney.

  England's Six Nations triumph was a near certainty from the moment Woodward's men beat France 25-17 on the opening day of the championship. They finished with a 42-6 crushing of Ireland on the final day to post a 12th Grand Slam.

  for the first time

  In between the Six Nations and the World Cup, England also posted its first ever victory over the Wallabies on Australian soil, 25-14 in Melbourne.

  That was a week after a 15-13 victory over the All Blacks in Wellington. In that game, Woodward's men spent 10 minutes down to 13 players with two in the sinbin, yet didn't concede a score.

  It was that sort of year for England. Woodward, strongly tipped to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, wants more.

  "We will enjoy the moment until Jan. 1 and then we are looking forward to the Six Nations and beyond," he said. "And it will, of course, up the ante that the other teams will be playing the world champions."

  In club action, Auckland Blues, with a backline featuring Spencer and All Blacks flyers Doug Howlett, Mils Muliaina and Rokocoko, won 10 of 11 games in the Super 12 regular season before beating four-time champion Canterbury Crusaders 21-17 in the final.

  The European title went to Toulouse for the second time in an all-French final in Dublin. Toulouse raced into a 19-0 halftime lead before holding on for a 22-17 victory over Perpignan. Flyhalf Yann Delaigue kicked four penalties and converted Vincent Clerc's try.
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