Nobody in the record-size gathering of 82 957 will ever forget the night Jonny Wilkinson won the World Cup.
England had the bloody thing in the bag twice, but lost it to the boot of Elton Flatley.
Then, when it mattered, the Wilkinson drop goal snatched it with seconds left at the end of the second period of extra time.
Bloody hell!
Captain Martin Johnson, exhausted by 110 minutes of sheer hell, said: ”Wilkinson was brilliant, what more can I say? The crowd was fantastic. We put our heart and soul in to it.”
They sure did. England’s Dad’s Army, written off here, never wilted. And though they looked to have it wrapped up by half-time after Jason Robinson’s try, they fought back again when everyone thought it was all over.
The Wallabies, who scored early on through Lote Tuqiri, can thank Flatley for extending the agony.
Twice, with seconds left, he booted penalties to level the game.
But his effort at the end of extra-time was 15 seconds too early — and there was Wilko, the man of the moment, to pop over the winner.
Has there ever been a more dramatic finale to a tournament? Have England ever been more heroic? Will Wilko be elected president next week after scoring the 15 points which make him the most bootiful man in the world with 113 in the tournament?
Neil Back was tireless, Johnson immovable. Mike Tindall tackled himself to a standstill … and the brave Wallabies fought to the finish.
But somehow, after all those years of hurt, this always promised to be England’s night on a chilly, wet, very British night in Sydney.
The din when Johnson lifted the cup was deafening.
What a night. What an unforgettable, gut-wrenching adventure.
Even before the whistle there were nerves. Everywhere. The fans, the coaches … and he players as first England, then Australia threw passes in to touch then Mat Rogers speared his grubber kick out of play.
Then two tough decisions from South African referee Andre Watson. First he brought England back thirty yards for a penalty, then he blew for incorrect line-out numbers.
From the resultant scrum, Steve Larkham put up a lovely up-and-under and Lote Tuqiri was simply too big for Jason Robinson, crashing over for the first try after just seven minutes.
Disaster, though Elton Flatley missed the conversion.
Three minutes later, with England just starting to play, Wilkinson was offered his first chance by Watson when the Aussies failed to stay on their feet. From fully 47 yards, it fair flew over, 5-3.
Boring? Not really, they won eight phases to get Wilkinson in position.
England dominated the next 10 minutes, then Steve Larkham was caught hanging on to Ben Cohen — who didn’t have the ball — and Wilko landed the penalty from 46 yards, 6-5 to England.
Larkham was taken off with a bloody injury and Matt Giteau came on to take a huge hit from Wilko.
With the Aussie scrum struggling, Wilko went for a drop goal but missed. Then Ben Kay dropped the ball as he was hit by Phil Waugh when a try looked certain.
Then serious problems with Wilko going down, 25 minutes in, the old right shoulder obviously hurting. But he got up to land penalty number three as Australia’s scrum began to crumble on their own line.
With England 9-5 up, Trevor Woodman was penalised for not binding in the scrum but Flatley missed the penalty. Wilko would have gobbled it up.
With time running out before the break, England were growing in stature … even though the rain had eased.
Then pure poetry: Dawson, Dallaglio … inside to Wilkinson then back out to Robinson who crashed over the in the corner. Yeeeeeesss!
With a minute to go to half-time, Wilko missed a difficult conversion but it was 14-5 at the break.
A euphoric half-time came to an abrupt end when Thompson’s disastrous long throw gave the ball away at the line-out and Flatley scored from the resultant penalty to make it 14-8 after 48 minutes.
Nathan Sharpe went off for vice-captain David Giffen as the Aussies sought desperately for inspiration. It didn’t come, though Matt Dawson was penalised for obstruction with Flatley missing the 47-yard penalty by inches under the crossbar.
Then the famous rolling maul, England going 20 yards, then running it brilliantly.
But they couldn’t quite get it right on the run, apparently running out of ideas, even with a man over.
Australia were hanging in, just. They produced six solid phases around the hour mark before the ever-helpful Mr Watson gave Mortlock another chance, making the penalty count 10 against England, five against the home side.
Flatley, only 35 yards out, made it 14-11.
Now it was England who needed to lift again. With Australia making numerous changes, Woodward stuck with his starting 15 for fully 62 minutes.
They produced some lovely stuff from the restart until Cohen lost his footing. Watson gave the scrum Australia’s way.
Three points in it, 15 to go, and Watson awards Australia a penalty for … dangerous play in the scrum?
Mortlock nearly broke from the resulting line-out but Wilko held on to him. Seconds later, Dallaglio and Larkham went at it hammer and tongs as the nerves began to jangle.
Watson kept Australia in it though, missing hands in the scrum right in front of the posts, then giving Australia the scrum as Cohen was held up.
Still, England were keeping everything in the Australian half — but with England set score after another great Johnson line-out take, Greenwood dropped the ball as England went for the line.
It was a huge mistake, which kept Woodward with his head in his hands. Ten to play. Wilko misses with a drop goal, inches wide.
Tense, tense times with both sides wilting having made nearly 300 tackles between them.
Then a disastrous forward pass from Wilko to Lewsey, who had moved to wing with Robinson at full back.
Now the Aussies were in English territory, three points behind with less than five minutes left. Big, big tackles from Tindall, twice, and Dawson. A big clearing kick from Wilko.
Then a huge mistake from Kay, which left Woodward thumping the desk in the box behind me. He went to get the ball from the base of the scrum but fumbled. Rogers pushed England right back.
Unbelievably, Johnson dropped the line-out and Australia were gifted a scrum. On came Catt for Tindall. Two to play.
Watson, predictably, found fault. Illegal scrummaging for the fourth time. Flatley from 22 yards, a slight angle, to tie things up with a minute left.
He made no mistake under enormous pressure. At 14-14, extra time was called immediately by Watson. Not a second to spare.
England were first on the board in the 20 minutes of extra time, Wilko just getting it over from 48 yards to score our first points since the Robinson try an age ago in the first half.
Then Catt, a searing break, Dallaglio going forward with intent, but they threw it away again and now Australia were on the charge.
A minute later, Lewsey was at it, dropping the ball in the loose and giving away a penalty. Lewsey limped off for Iain Balshaw seconds later.
But England kept the Aussies pinned back for the first period, Catt having a drop goal attempt charged down and Wilkinson missing narrowly with a 20-yard drop goal effort just before the break.
Was there no end to the agony?
They were watching this in Swaziland and Antarctica allegedly, and we were all blowing hot and cold in Sydney.
With Jason Leonard on for Vickery, England remained dominant in the scrum. But then Catt spilled it in the loose, and the vantage was nullified again.
With seven to go, Robinson and Cohen stopped Tuqiri from scoring the match-winning try after a terrible Dawson slip after a Johnson tip from the line-out.
We can’t take much more of this.
Then Rogers, tackled by Catt, is penalised for not releasing 10 yards out. Good call, Mr Watson!
But seconds later, another gift for Flatley. Watson sees somebody hanging on in a white shirt. This time, three minutes left, 30 yards out. And Flatley makes it 17-17 to send this endless game into sudden death overtime … but no.
England surge forward, Dawson breaks, Johnson back in to the maul, back to Wilko. Drop goal!
It’s all over at 20-17, England are world champions. Bloody hell.