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PARIS - England's Jonny Wilkinson admitted on Wednesday he's a huge fan of South Africa winger Bryan Habana, the man poised, like him, to dominate Saturday's World Cup final.
"I think he's been fantastic. He has done an enormous amount for rugby as a whole, for the development and growth of the sport, for the way rugby should be played," said the England fly-half.
"The way he applies himself on the field in terms of his demeanour and his respect levels, his values and his integrity, they are all doing wonderful things for the game.
"I think his ability to continue to do this against the world's best opposition, as we've seen in the Tri-Nations and against fantastic teams he deserves the praise he's getting.
"The good thing is that he seems to be continuing to get better and it can only be a bright future for the game if he continues."
Habana is the tournament's top try-scorer having already grabbed eight to go level with All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu who set the mark at the 1999 tournament.
Habana scored two against Argentina in the 37-13 semi-final win as well as four against Samoa and two in the victory over the United States in the pool stages.
"The sky's the limit for him," Lomu told the BBC.
"When he got to the eight the other day I was the first to stand up and applaud.
"He's a great ambassador for South Africa and a great ambassador for the sport. I'm hoping he will break it on Saturday because records are there to be broken.
"If you're defending against him you've got to shut his space down quickly. If he gets it in a dangerous area, nine times out of 10 he will score."
Lomu, who played in the All Blacks' 1995 team which reached the final only to lose to the Springboks, also said he was not surprised that England had recovered from a 36-0 defeat by South Africa in the pool to reach the final.
"If England turn up with the forwards playing as well as they can they are tough," Lomu said.
"Ugly rugby can win you rugby matches, you can't win without the forwards doing their job up front."
- AFP
