England 14 France 9
View photosKEY POINTS:
Stand up and say it now, well done England. On the back of some obdurate defence and unquenchable courage, the 2003 champions won the right yesterday to defend their World Cup crown.
Astonishing? Yes, given their wonky record since Martin Johnson lifted the trophy four years ago in Sydney. But it was the same man who warned last week that if England were hanging tough in the semifinal after 60 minutes, the French would feel more pressure - that the hosts would be the ones starting to worry about how they could find victory.
England did that with a late penalty and dropped goal from Jonny Wilkinson to continue their gritty campaign which had looked in danger of expiring in the pool play after the Springboks belted them 36-0.
But whatever coach Brian Ashton and his senior players have grasped since that nadir, it is working. They have narrowed their game-plan, they bulldoze opponents and hurt them in the collisions - and they have Wilkinson to pilot them around.
It is not pretty but it is better than sitting back in New Zealand going through a list of what-ifs like the All Blacks after the greatest stumble in New Zealand sport since Silvia Potts.
England are functional; they do not have much finesse, but they are getting the job done.
That is what this World Cup is all about and their vociferous and long-suffering supporters are loving it. The opening semifinal at the Stade de France did not do much for the sport as an entertainment. It was a very awkward match to watch with the amount of average kicking, scrum resets, mistakes and stoppages for injury.
It was a struggle, but that is where England have made their mark in their last four matches.
They understand how to win the tight, tough matches, they can grind out results, they know their limitations and play to their strengths.
France looked damaged after their Herculean defensive effort against the All Blacks. Once they got over fullback Damien Traille's second-minute botch-up which gifted England a try, France's backs were running into half gaps and putting immense early pressure on England's defensive screens.
France then lost senior lock Fabien Pelous to injury and that may have hurt their tight five, with Sebastien Chabal on far sooner than his regular impact role.
Anxiety showed on both sides, with Lionel Beauxis and Wilkinson having a number of dropped goal attempts, that precious payload which escaped the All Blacks' approach in Cardiff.
England continued to pile bodies into contact and, at times, you felt referee Jonathan Kaplan was lenient about whether England stayed on their feet or entered from behind the back of the breakdowns.
When Wilkinson goaled from the sideline to leave England a point adrift with 30 minutes to run, the French started to waver. Substitute Frederic Michalak could not reproduce the magic of last week; he could not find his outside backs in enough space to blunt the England defenders. His attacking kicks were also poor.
In response, Wilkinson hit the left post with a right-foot drop goal, that same limb which sealed the Webb Ellis Cup in extra-time in Australia. Maybe it was not going to be England's night, maybe the hosts were going to ease home with that dose of fortune. They could have, had Joe Worsley not managed to ankle-tap a flying Vincent Clerc who was headed for the line.
Another dropped goal bobbled badly along the ground but from a French clearance, fullback Jason Robinson headed into the heart of the French defence.
As he danced past a few tacklers, replacement hooker Dimitri Szarzewski clipped him with a lazy high shot. England had the lead from Wilkinson's 32m penalty and France could see their search for Parisian glory vanishing. Another England rumble from Simon Shaw, Martin Corry and their battering gang made Wilkinson's final dropped goal a formality.
England were given little show of getting past the quarters, now they are in the final and underlining Springbok coach Jake White's prediction that success would come for those sides who played uncompromising, percentage rugby.
England have made the most of their modest flair and are now one game away from successive titles.
Despite White's forecast, it is a staggering result.
TOP POINT-SCORERS
In World Cup matches
243 Jonny Wilkinson, England*
227 Gavin Hastings, Scotland
195 Michael Lynagh, Australia
170 Grant Fox, New Zealand
163 Andrew Mehrtens, New Zealand
135 Gonzalo Quesada, Argentina
125 Matt Burke, Australia
125 Nicky Little, Fiji*
120 Gareth Rees, Canada
117 Chris Paterson, Scotland x
103 Frederic Michalak, France*
100 Elton Flatley, Australia
* active
