Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Jonny Wilkinson held his nerve when it mattered most and so won the World Cup for England. It was an appropriate ending to an enthralling game, which either team could have won.

The Australians will have no complaints. They gave it their best shot and could scarcely have played better. England, however, would have been sick if they had lost this one because they played so badly in the second half having built up a comfortable lead by half-time. In the second half they started to throw a lot of their own lineouts long and either lost the ball or the throw was crooked.

This was bad decision-making because Martin Johnson was comfortably winning ball at the front up to that point. In fact it was surprising how many of their own lineouts both sides lost in the game.

England had Australia's set-piece under huge pressure in the first half but put their own lineout needlessly under similar pressure in the second. Added to this, they persisted in retaining the ball, which was clearly like a bar of soap in the hand resulting in a huge number of knock-ons. They would have been far better served by kicking more of their possession into the corners and behind the Australian backs.

All of these errors kept the Australians in the game and they were happy to hang in there, chip away at the English lead and hope for a late score.

At times I felt they were going to steal it. Added to this Wilkinson was not having his best day with his drop goal attempts, having missed three, but great credit is due to him for having the confidence and nerve when he needed it.

The best team won the tournament. They had proved before the competition that they were number one in the world. It's never easy to wear the favourite's mantle in any sport. You become a preferred target for all the opposition. They wore the mantle well and it will make their victory all the sweeter.

Apart from Wilkinson, their other senior players delivered. Johnson played as well as I've ever seen him play; Lawrence Dallaglio looked like he could run forever. Neil Back was his usual self, all over the place; Matt Dawson always looked dangerous and took a lot of pressure off Wilkinson; the rest of the backs were reliable with Jason Robinson the most likely line-breaker.

If England had lost, apart from being annoyed with themselves they would have undoubtedly been furious with the South African referee Andre Watson. He made many bad decisions at the breakdown, most of which went against England. But the area in which he really unfairly penalised them was in the scrum.

He was conned by the Australian front row and he fell for it hook, line and sinker. England clearly had the stronger scrum. Why therefore would they resort to the tactics he was alleging - collapsing and breaking the bind?

The Australians realised early on they had him convinced that the English front row were the villains and they played on this. It could have been critical as the Australian penalty to level the match at the end of normal time came from such a scrum. Had he refereed the scrums properly Australia would have been under great pressure, just as France were in the semi-final when they played England. I believe Clive Woodward's side would then have won by a wider margin.

His interpretation at the breakdown was difficult to follow. It is in this area the IRB must take immediate action. There is too much uncertainty, too many different interpretations. The situation, where the referees have to talk constantly throughout a game to highly-paid professionals to inform them whether they can touch the ball is a joke. The players should know whether it is legal or not. The fact that the referee has to tell them is an admission of the lack of clarity of the laws.

We now have the World champions as our neighbours and regular opponents for the next four years. They have set the standard which we must aspire to. That doesn't mean we have to play the game as they do. Every team has to play to its strengths.

Woodward has had his ups and downs. Winning this competition was always his target. He must be very satisfied. It is nice to see the trophy coming to the Northern Hemisphere. At times in the past I wondered if we would ever see it happen.

A lot of this winning English team, even though they seem to go on longer than everybody else, will surely be gone in four years' time. I wonder when England will start to rebuild.

At least they have a lynchpin around which to do it, not only for the next World Cup but probably for the one after that as well. That man Wilkinson, of course.