Woodward displays the trophy.
AUSSIE PRESS EAT HUMBLE PIE
By Alastair Moffitt, PA Sport
Click here for Sydney match report
Click here for more reaction from Sydney
England's World Cup final victory over Australia had newspapers Down Under
eating a large slice of humble pie on Sunday.
The Aussie press spent most of the tournament taunting Clive Woodward's men,
accusing them of being, among other things, too old to succeed, too boring to be
worthy champions and too reliant on Jonny Wilkinson's boot.
Those criticisms came back to haunt Australia though as England edged a tense
final in Sydney 20-17 and on Sunday the media Down Under were left to pick over the
bones of a painful defeat.
The Adelaide Sunday Mail hailed "Jonny the Lionheart" and admitted "a gold
army of fans across the country were left numb by a 20-17 extra-time knockout
punch".
The Age in Melbourne could not resist taking a swipe at England's recent
under-achievement, reporting: "England basked in the unaccustomed glow of
sporting glory on Sunday as the enormity of the rugby World Cup win sank in."
In Canberra, the Sunday Times consoled Wallaby fans with the insistence the
Aussies had played a key role in the competition's greatest-ever match.
"England lived out their dream in front of tens of thousands of delirious
fans in Sydney last night," the Times reported.
Defeat by England has not prompted cries of derision though for the fallen
Australian side, with the Herald Sun just one of many newspapers to come out in
support of the runners-up.
Their view on the final suggested "Aussie hopes of a historic third Rugby
World Cup were cruelly crushed in extra-time".
While the Sunday papers in Britain were falling over themselves to hail
Wilkinson as England's saviour, the Newcastle fly-half's heroics were not so
well received Down Under, with the Sunday Tasmanian summing up feelings with
their "Jonny Rotten" headline.
Sometimes pictures speak louder than words and The Sunday Times' front page
featured an image of celebrating England stars while two beaten Aussies trudged
off the Telstra Stadium pitch disconsolate.
|
