Wynne Gray's 50 greatest rugby moments: No.29

Jonny Wilkinson kicks the winning drop goal. Photo / Getty

A recent survey picked Jonny Wilkinson's dropped goal to win the 2003 World Cup for England as the favourite fan moment from the seven global tournaments.

It nudged out Nelson Mandela handing the 1995 trophy to Francois Pienaar, while all the others on the top 10 list languished well behind.

Wilkinson's golden strike, 30 seconds from fulltime with his less-favoured right boot, was his only dropped-goal success from four attempts in the Sydney final as England overcame the Wallabies 20-17.

It seemed as though England were set for the strike one phase earlier, but captain Martin Johnson mounted another charge forward, calling referee Andre Watson for an offside penalty as halfback Matt Dawson and Wilkinson got into position.

England thought they'd won the match in ordinary time until referee Watson found a penalty against their dominant scrum and Elton Flatley goaled in the last minute. The crowd of 82,957 went into overdrive as the coaching staff administered any sort of advice, treatment and encouragement to the players about the demands of an extra 20 minutes. Would a tenacious young host side somehow get through the guard of an ageing warrior England side?

Eddie Jones was down on the pitch urging his men on while Clive Woodward looked increasingly fretful as he jigged about nervously.

Earlier, England's supporters were struggling to watch Wilkinson writhe around on the ground after making a tackle and suffering a stinger in his shoulder which sent his frame into contractions. He recovered, as did Stephen Larkham, the Wallaby five-eighths, who had three spells in the bloodbin to stitch his wounds.

Wilkinson then Flatley goaled penalties in extra time as officials began to contemplate a further 10 minutes of golden point overtime.

Then England went to the well one more time. They pushed downfield and kept their composure for the winning strike as Woodward, by now down near the sideline, wildly inquired how much time was left.

England had 30 seconds to survive before they reefed the ball into touch to banish the memories of their 1991 World Cup final loss to the Wallabies.