Inside England's World Cup win 20 years on after Wilkinson defied reality check
England's finest hour will forever be defined by a perfectionist fly-half whose moment in time came one night in Sydney - or one morning in his homeland.
Only true icons are known by their first name alone, but Jonny, especially in the sporting world, only refers to one man. Jonny Wilkinson remains the country's most popular rugby player and a drop goal in Australia two decades ago saw England reach the summit of a mountain. Heights they've never again scaled.
Wilkinson was told as a teenager by his teacher that he couldn't be a rugby player when he grew up because it wasn't a job. There the shoots of a relentless player were born with that drive taking himself and his country to the pinnacle of a sport that, only eight years earlier, had been played for fun.
Many of England's Class of 2003 were part of the amateur turned professional era with the change seemingly coming overnight. Sir Clive Woodward, knighted after leading England to their triumph, was the outstanding candidate following his time coaching London Irish, which he did alongside running a business.
He said before the final: "My only goal when I left my business to take this job six years ago was to make England the best team in the world and win this thing. Now we have a real chance of doing exactly that."
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England learnt harsh lessons in the 1999 World Cup when a young Wilkinson was dropped for the quarter-final defeat to South Africa. It was a reality check as those in the Northern Hemisphere tried in vain to match up with their Southern Hemisphere counterparts.
After the turn of the millennium though those at Twickenham stuck to a plan that began to bear fruits. In 2000 Australia, only a year after their World Cup win, were defeated. South Africa were knocked over a few weeks later. Come 2002, Australia, New Zealand and the Springboks were beaten in successive weeks.
A 2003 Six Nations Grand Slam had England sitting on top of the world and they headed down under with a sense of expectation. The winner of a crunch pool stage clash against South Africa would finish top of the group and, crucially, avoid the All Blacks.
England had shown huge promise in the years leading up to the World CupEngland made light work of the Springboks, securing a 25-6 win in Perth with Wilkinson, as he had become, the sharpshooter from the tee. Consistently the fly-half would knock over penalties and drop goals, keeping the scoreboard ticking over and gradually deflating opponents.
Wales threatened a quarter-final shock as they led England at half-time in Brisbane. Woodward and his staff sat in the coaching box, heckled by the Welsh in the stands as four years of hard work threatened to fall foul of a lacklustre 40 minutes.
England though, by this point battle-hardened as well as gifted, produced the spirit necessary to overcome their neighbours and set up a semi-final with another rival - the French. France had been the only team to beat England in 2003 following a narrow victory in Marseille weeks before the World Cup.
Sir Clive Woodward took England from the amateur era to world champions (AFP via Getty Images)Les Blues, determined to go one better than their final loss in 1999, scored the semi-final's only try early on before Wilkinson set about doing what he did best. Woodward made no secret of the fact England's plan was to go after the French playmaker, Frédéric Michalak.
On a rain-soaked night in Sydney, after England and Wilkinson had registered 24 points to France's seven, captain Martin Johnson claimed it was "death by a thousand cuts". Michalik was bought off with the game done and Woodward commented that he "looked like he been in a boxing match for ten rounds".
The England boss claimed that facing Australia was "the dream final" and that's exactly what the tourists got. The Wallabies and the home media began their war of words. They claimed that England's tactics didn't extend past giving the ball to Wilkinson so that he could kick a penalty or hit a drop goal.
That may have been an attempt to mock, but clearly, they tempted fate. Lote Tuqiri and Jason Robinson traded final tries with the Englishman racing into the corner after a pass from Wilkinson had set him clear. England's fly-half and Australian centre Elton Flatley both came up with four penalties each as the game approached minute 100.
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Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson were pillars of England's success (Getty Images)People across sport will tell you it is one thing knowing what your opponent will do, it is another to stop it. Everyone knew England's agenda as the clock ticked down, but as Woodward's side set for the drop goal Australia took their eyes off the prize and a snipe from Matt Dawson is likely the greatest ever spontaneous act by an English scrum-half.
It gave Wilkinson more time to set and less distance to kick. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and with his weaker foot the fly-half dissected the two posts ahead of him to produce the finest image in English rugby history.
The fly-half claims it is "the only kick I've done that I didn't think about." A quick high five with replacement Iain Balshaw and it was back in focus to set for a restart. Wilkinson has described the goal as "not a memory that I treasure because I don't have much memory of it – but just an experience which gave me a glimpse of life a little bit outside the boundaries of what I thought was possible – something bigger."
Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal remains the country's most iconic rugby moment (PA)The full-time whistle sounded as Wilkinson booted the ball off the pitch and the showering of accolades began. Knighthoods, BBC Sport personality of the year awards, thousands waiting at Heathrow airport to welcome them home and a bus parade through London that ended in Trafalgar Square.
England teams, some with Wilkinson and some without, have tried and failed to replicate the success of 2003. No matter what happens in the future you get the sense that Wilkinson, Johnson, Dallaglio and co will forever be the standard bearers of what success looks like.
When the current generation is asked who inspired them, you can bet all of their answers were involved 20 years ago. Everyone has their 'where were you' moment, all of which have stood the test of time.
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