But the fact that England’s best players were not good enough is

But the fact that England’s best players were not good enough is not proof that we should stick to fostering the game in its traditional areas.What it really shows is that neither the playing base nor the support base for the game in this country is broad enough to keep it as a going concern.In that respect, the World Cup was at least trying to do the right thing.. Like so much about the Lincoln Financial World Cup, the idea that New Zealand might rescue it for the rest of the planet by beating Australia in the final proved to be so much wishful thinking. Like so much about the Lincoln Financial World Cup, the idea that New Zealand might rescue it for the rest of the planet by beating Australia in the final proved to be so much wishful thinking.
After a tense first half and a third quarter during which the game see-sawed violently enough to raise the possibility of a Kiwi win, the Aussies – not beaten for this trophy since 1972 – romped clear in the closing stages, with Wendell Sailor, the man who epitomised their superiority on the day, scoring a hat-trick of tries.With the sun belatedly and somewhat half-heartedly shining on the tournament and Old Trafford rather better populated for a meeting of the game’s antipodean super-powers than some feared it might be, New Zealand spent almost all of the first half trying to hold a green and gold tide at bay.The pressure began to build from the first minute, with Lesley Vainikolo knocking on from Brett Kimmorley’s high kick to the wing and the Kiwi defence getting its first work-out. An uncharacteristic mistake by Richie Barnett, from another Kimmorley kick, kept the Kiwis under strain and when Matthew Gidley’s inside pass sent the ever-dangerous Sailor charging for the line, it seemed the first Australian try was on its way It would have been, but for a last-ditch tackle by Barnett. Stacey Jones compounded New Zealand’s problems by having the ball stolen from him by Kimmorley and only Sailor’s knock-on lifted the siege.After Vainikolo had again lost the ball, Australia looked for all the world as though they had finally seized the reward for their dominance. Scott Hill got the ball out to Sailor on the right wing and he somehow beat Vainikolo and Willie Talau in the limited space available to him. That was the hard part, but Stephen Kearney performed a miracle by getting his hand underneath the ball as Sailor dived to touch down.There was a feeling around the stadium, though, that Kearney’s heroics had merely delayed the inevitable After 27 minutes, the Kiwis finally cracked.

Gidley moved the ball on with his fingertips to Sailor, who kicked ahead as the cover closed in. With New Zealand assuming that the ball was running dead, Gidley just managed to beat Kearney to the touch-down, with Mat Rogers adding the conversion from close to the touchline.It was only after the try that New Zealand began to come into the game as an attacking force, although Vainikolo, one of the personalities of the tournament, continued his unhappy afternoon when he fumbled the ball after Talau had made the Kiwis’ first real break.Jones’ interception and Darren Lockyer catching New Zealand’s dropped-ball syndrome from Robbie Swain’s high kick kept the Kiwis on the attack, but Lockyer reprieved himself by snaffling a crafty little kick from Henry Paul and the men in black went in at half-time knowing that they were fortunate indeed to be only six points in arrears.Although British involvement on the pitch was limited to the referee, Stuart Cummings, and a second-half streaker, there was no doubt where the crowd’s sympathies lay. That was not the asset to New Zealand that they might have hoped and, six minutes after the break, the scale of their task doubled. Nigel Vagana was driven back over his own try-line by weight of numbers and, from the subsequent possession, Brad Fittler worked a gap big enough for Nathan Hindmarsh and another converted try.It looked like the end of the drama, but instead the game burst into life. Jones’ kick got away from Lockyer, under pressure from Matt Rua, and Vainikolo scooped up the loose ball for a try, converted by Henry Paul.The suspicion still remained that New Zealand must be a desperately tired side, and that was the way they looked as Kimmorley produced an electrifying dummy and run to set up Lockyer for the try that restored a 12-point lead.But back came the Kiwis again, with an inspired handling move, featuring a Kearney back-flip, to give Tonie Carroll the chance to slip between Adam MacDougall and Rogers for the try that opened up the game once more.It was in the last 11 minutes that Australia slammed the door in their faces, with the combination of Gidley and Sailor again proving too slick for the Kiwis.

Gidley ran towards touch and sent his winger over with the sweetest of reverse passes and then formed the link in a chain of rapid and inventive passing from Lockyer to give Sailor the chance of his hat-trick. By the time Fittler went over, the Kiwis were out on their feet – an uncomfortable fact rammed home by Trent Barrett as the game neared its inevitable conclusion.A crowd of 44,329 – one of the tournament’s bigger successes in itself – had seen a game which had been, in turn, grimly gripping, excitingly unpredictable and – finally – just another episode of the same old story. For the first time in the World Cup, Australia had looked incontestably the best team in the world, but they had done it at precisely the right time.Australia: Lockyer (Brisbane); Rogers (Cronulla), MacDougall (Newcastle), Gidley (Newcastle), Sailor (Brisbane); Fittler (Sydney), Kimmorley (Melbourne); Webcke (Brisbane), Johns (Newcastle), Kearns (Melbourne), Tallis (Brisbane), Fletcher (Sydney), Hill (Melbourne). Substitutes used: Barrett (St George-Illawarra), Britt (Canterbury), Hindmarsh (Parramatta), Stevens (Cronulla).New Zealand: Barnett (Sydney); N Vagana (Auckland), Carroll (Brisbane), Talau (Canterbury), Vainikolo (Canberra); H Paul (Bradford), Jones (Auckland); Smith (St George-Illawarra), Swain (Melbourne), Pongia (Sydney), Rua (Melbourne), Kearney (Melbourne), Wiki (Canberra).

Substitutes used: R Paul (Bradford), Cayless (Parramatta), Swann (Auckland), J Vagana (Auckland).Referee: S Cummings (England).. Northampton were missing an entire back line’s worth of internationals through Test calls and injuries but it was the hard-nosed quality of their forwards that did for Bristol and moved the Saints up to fourth place in the Premiership. Northampton were missing an entire back line’s worth of internationals through Test calls and injuries but it was the hard-nosed quality of their forwards that did for Bristol and moved the Saints up to fourth place in the Premiership.
Bristol’s frustration was made flesh in the form of a beefy forearm belonging to Garath Archer. The England lock was sent off in injury-time for a second yellow-card offence, after taking out Northampton’s prop Mattie Stewart off the ball. The two players had already visited the sin-bin together after a scuffle at the end of the first half.