The professional pundits - the reporters who cover rugby - have spoken with one voice at the conclusion of RWC 2003: It was a magnificent final and an equally magnificent Tournament.
"England are the champions of the world. They did it….It was easily the finest of the World Cup Finals, with a biting intensity on the field and around the amphitheatre of Telstra Stadium. In terms of drama alone, it will stand tall in English sporting history."
- Stephen Jones, the Sunday Times (London)
"The golden boot of the golden-haired boy won England the gilded Webb Ellis Cup in the last minute of extra-time to defeat Australia in an epic rugby World Cup Final….Sydney’s Olympic stadium pulsated to a match that will go down as one of Rugby Union's greatest. The sides each scored one spectacular try, but, in the end, it came down to the boot. A golden one."
- Mark Fuller, The Age (Melbourne)
"These players are now immortals. In the space of an evening they've become part of our history. And it was wonderful to see."
- Richard Williams, the Observer (London)
"This was…a gladiatorial contest between two witheringly competitive sides who combined to produce one of the greatest sporting spectacles in living memory. Woodward had dismissed suggestions beforehand that it was his side's destiny to win the World Cup but, as Wilkinson pulled the trigger on his unfavoured right foot with the clock ticking down, the script seemed too contrived to be believable. It was fantasy rugby, on a day when the English finally remembered what it was like to be world champions."
- Simon Hart, the Sunday Telegraph (London)
"At the end of six weeks, a total of 1.83 million attendees from all over the world had broken all records as they pushed through the turnstiles….Everyone had a good time. And for its climax, a rugby game was played which was the equal of the occasion. An epic! Let the game go for another hundred years, and rugby people will still say, this, this was one of the great international rugby clashes."
- Peter FitzSimons, the Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney)