The Tournament ended in arguably the most dramatic fashion ever with a sporting moment that will be remembered for the rest of their life by all Rugby fans.

Jonny Wilkinson kept his nerve in the final minutes of extra time to clinch the World Cup for England, at the same time dashing Australian hopes of a Webb Ellis hat-trick.

Wilkinson admitted his match-winning, right-footed, drop-goal - his wrong foot - was not particularly well struck, but it still sailed through the uprights to give the northern hemisphere their one success to date in the tournament by virtue of a 20-17 win.

England, the best side in the world over the previous two seasons and with an ability to play expansively when required, deserved their win at Sydney's Telstra Stadium in front of 82,957 spectators, but they did it the hard way.

The Wallabies took an early lead following a Lote Tuquiri try, but Wilkinson kicked his side back into the lead.

English lock Ben Kay then dropped a pass when it seemed easier to score, but Jason Robinson finished off a Wilkinson-Lawrence Dallaglio move to put England 14-5 clear at the break.

Martin Johnson's side, however, could not turn their forward dominance into points and were increasingly penalised at the scrum by referee Andre Watson, allowing Elton Flatley to level the scores at 14-14 in the final seconds with an ice-cool penalty.

There were 21 seconds of extra time left, with sudden death looming, when Wilkinson settled the game. The fly-half ended the tournament with 113 points.

Despite the success, England's side was right at the end of its sell-by date and quickly broke up after the World Cup.