KEY POINTS:
England 36
Tonga 20
The clock struck midnight yesterday when Tonga, the Cinderella side of the World Cup, were sent packing by an England team playing the part of Prince Charmless.
The defending world champions did little, however, to suggest they will be able to foot it with
Australia when the two sides meet at Marseille's Stade Velodrome next weekend.
Captain Martin Corry gave an indication of what was required to keep hold of the crown they sweated blood for four years ago.
"We have to improve in every aspect of the game," he said.
Where they might feel they have an advantage over the Wallabies is the fact they have now played three tough tests in three weeks, the past two of them being essentially knockoutsituations, while the Wallabies have been in cruise control since beating Wales on September 15.
The match is also a repeat of the 1995 quarter-final when an unfancied England side beat Michael Lynagh's Australia thanks to a Rob Andrew drop goal at the death.
Need it be repeated, England have a man wearing No 10 now who can seemingly drop goals at will if you get him into the right areas of the park. Yesterday Jonny Wilkinson added two snaps - he now has eight in his past seven World Cup matches - to his two penalties and two conversions for a neat haul of 16 points. Being the perfectionist he is though, it will be the three missed kicks that linger longer in his memory.
The real star of the show for England was right wing Paul Sackey. After Tonga centre Sukanaivalu Hufanga stormed on to a beautiful ball from Epeli Taione to stun the crowd, Wilkinson cross-kicked a penalty which Sackey did well to squeeze down before the dead ball line.
That effectively let the air out of Tonga's balloon. If they had been able to hold that early lead for longer England's anxiety might have seen them make the silly mistakes that characterised their opening two performances.
As it was they used their weight of possession to grind the Islanders down in a professional manner.
"We're not getting carried away," Brian Ashton, the coach, said. "We know we're not playing to our potential, we are slowly moving along the road. We know we have to move up a gear next week."
Potential has been the buzzword for England, as in "we're not playing to our potential but when we do we're a match for anyone."
It was a mantra Corry, skippering the side while Phil Vickery attempts to play his way back into the starting 15, repeated.
"We're a developing side," he said. "We still have to improve more but the exciting thing is we're still playing below our potential. We still don't know how good we can be."
You suspect they can get better, but whether that is enough to topple the Wallabies is another matter. Australians have long memories. They will remember acutely what it felt like when they craned their necks to see Wilkinson's right-foot drop goal sail through the posts. They still take it as an insult that it was Martin Johnson lifting the William Webb Ellis Trophy in their back yard, not George Gregan.
So it is a highly motivated Wallabies that Brian Ashton and his troops will face. Ashton, who has faced heavy and at times justified criticism at this tournament, believes the Tonga match will hold them in good stead.
"We knew there were times in the game when we were under pressure - and we know we are going to have to improve against Australia. Two weeks ago according to a lot of people we were down and out."
Not out, Brian, just down.
England (P. Sackey 2, M. Tait, A. Farrell tries; J. Wilkinson 2 pens 2 cons 2 dgs), Tonga (S. Hufanga, H. T-Pole tries; P. Hola 2 pens 2 cons). Ht: 19-10