England - 20 Australia - 17 It would been something of a travesty if, after the last two years, England had been denied the World Cup, and on the night it simply would have been a crass injustice - perhaps the biggest in the history of the World Cup, and there've been a few.

England have been the best side in the world for at least two years, winning 21 of their last 22 Tests save for fielding a second-string side against the French first-stringers in Marseilles last August, and if the margin of their fifth successive win over the Wallabies wasn't so convincing in the Telstra Stadium on Saturday, nevertheless they were the better team.

England appeared to be doing everything right by the midway point of normal time. You didn't give the Wallabies a prayer after Lote Tuqiri's well-executed try from Stephen Larkham's pinpoint cross-kick had been handsomely cancelled out in spades by three penalties by you-know-who and Jason Robinson's try.

Certainly, the Wallabies had to score next. As it transpired, they scored the next three times to force the game into extra time. That it came to this was in part down to England all but abandoning their kicking game and failing to press home their pack's undoubted supremacy with a surfeit of misfired lineouts, handling errors, turnovers and penalties.

The rain was undoubtedly a mitigating factor, and far from playing into English hands, if anything it was a leveller. Clive Woodward's cheeky post-match assertion that they would have won in dry conditions actually had some validity.

Be that as it may, that England didn't go on and win inside normal time as expected was largely down to Andre Watson's refereeing. He may be regarded as the best referee in the world but his "performance" here was not remotely in keeping with that status. Frankly, he was awful.

How he could give Elton Flatley four penalties at goal in that second half and not one to Jonny Wilkinson was remarkable, and how he could penalise England five times as much at scrum time would have had aficionados the world over shaking their heads in dismay.

England, according to Woodward, did not have one penalty against them in their six previous RWC 2003 games here at scrum time. They were manifestly on top here, yet were penalised five times, mostly for supposedly not scrummaging straight.

The worst example? With the Wallabies back to 11-14, the simply awesome Martin Johnson had dragged England upfield with a remarkable ball carry and offload. Though an Australia put-in shortly ensued, the English pack again had the better "hit" and drove the Wallabies back. In retreat, their front row popped up under pressure. It should have been an English penalty, at worst a reset. Yet Watson penalised Vickery. It looked an appalling decision.

It was as if Watson didn't want a genuine contest at scrum time. After one collapsed scrum, he informed the front rows: "There's millions watching this. That's crap. No more."

When it came to the near fateful 79th-minute scrum you didn't have to be a soothsayer to envisage what was going to happen next. Looking the English props Trevor Woodman and Phil Vickery in the eyes before the put-in, he said: "It's up to you - both you boys. Test me."

Then, when it hit the turf immediately, there followed a shrill blast and the words: "You got in there and you asked for it." Cue Flatley's leveller and extra time.

The Wallabies, to their credit, were immensely brave and, as ever, "smart". Eddie Jones used his bench more pro-actively during the second half of normal time, Matt Cockbain coming on to give them a third option in their troubled lineout, before the effects of this gradually wore off in extra time as the arrival of Mick Catt gave England more impetus and Jason Leonard steadied their scrum.

But in so many areas England were superior. They had palpably the stronger scrum, marginally the better lineout, more go-forward ball-carriers and the better defence, curtailing David Lyons and correctly identifying Stirling Mortlock as the Wallabies' chief dangerman and crowding him out superbly after one early incision.

In so many positions too, English players simply didn't deserve to lose.

It's quite a question, but has Martin Johnson ever played better? His work on the opposition lineout, his ball-carrying in contact, his impact at the collision areas and his leadership were those of a legend on a mission. Talk about leading from the front.

Lawrence Dallaglio wasn't far behind, and his run to drag Larkham wide and take out the hapless, defensively naive Wendell Sailor, before offloading inside to Wilkinson for Jason Robinson's try was the play of the night.

Vickery never let Watson's scrummaging interpretations get to him, Matt Dawson showed again that he is a big-game player, Mike Tindall kept on going and going, ditto Will Greenwood, and Robinson was virtually flawless - he could hardly be blamed for Tuqiri outjumping him.

The twinkle-toed one held his support line and skated in for England's try, made yards sometimes out of nothing, kick-returned expertly and then put his body on the line to stop Tuqiri in his tracks in extra time. For a second or two, that was the moment when it looked like the game might be up for England.

That they came out again and won it a second time was in large part down to Wilkinson's coolness and calmness in a crisis and his nerveless execution of his eighth drop goal, 25 seconds from the end of this 100-minute epic. It was as if it had been scripted for him all along.

But other factors went into this, beginning with Mat Rogers's decision to kick the ball out of play and so give England a lineout inside halfway. Then there was Ben Kay bravely calling the ball on himself at the tail after a night when his hands cost England a try, a key turnover and a key lost lineout, and Steve Thompson hitting him. The pack's maul, Dawson's brilliant swivel and dart as the Wallabies queued up with Wilkinson back in the pocket. Johnson rumbling again, though there was no need, and then finally Jonny the Boy Wonder delivering.

The game's ultimate match-winner had delivered in the grandest, most epic of manners. But so much more went into this World Cup victory and that match-winning play.

World champions alright.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6 mins: Tuqiri try, 5-0; 12 mins: Wilkinson pen 5-3; 20 mins: Wilkinson pen 5-6; 28 mins: Wilkinson pen 5-9; 38 mins: Robinson try 5-14; (half-time 5-14); 48 mins: Flatley pen 8-14; 61 mins: Flatley pen 11-14; 80 mins: Flatley pen 14-14; (normal time 14-14); 82 mins: Wilkinson pen 14-17; 98 mins: Flatley pen 17-17; 100 mins: Wilkinson drop goal 17-20.

AUSTRALIA: M Rogers (NSW Waratahs); W Sailor (Queensland Reds), S Mortlock (ACT Brumbies), E Flatley (Queensland Reds), L Tuqiri (NSW Waratahs); S Larkham (ACT Brumbies), G Gregan (ACT Brumbies, capt); B Young (ACT Brumbies), B Cannon (NSW Waratahs), A Baxter (NSW Waratahs), J Harrison (NSW Waratahs), N Sharpe (Queensland Reds), G Smith (ACT Brumbies), D Lyons (NSW Waratahs), P Waugh (NSW Waratahs). Replacements: M Giteau (ACT Brumbies) for Larkham (20-31 mins, 56-64 mins, 86-94 mins), D Giffin (ACT Brumbies) for Sharpe (48 mins), J Paul (ACT Brumbies) for Cannon (57 mins), M Cockbain (Queensland Reds) for Lyons (57 mins), J Roff (ACT Brumbies) for Sailor (71 mins), M Dunning (NSW Waratahs) for Young (93 mins).

ENGLAND: J Lewsey (Wasps); J Robinson (Sale), W Greenwood (Harlequins), M Tindall (Bath), B Cohen (Northampton); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), M Dawson (Northampton); T Woodman (Gloucester), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester), M Johnson (Leicester, capt), B Kay (Leicester), R Hill (Saracens), L Dallaglio (Wasps), N Back (Leicester). Replacements: M Catt (Bath) for Tindall (79 mins), J Leonard (Harlequins) for Vickery (81 mins), I Balshaw (Bath) for Lewsey (86 mins), L Moody (Leicester) for Hill (94 mins).

Referee: Andre Watson (South Africa).