CHRIS FOY recollects England’s 2003 World Cup win on twentieth anniversary

There have been solely two of us stood within the pouring rain exterior England’s World Cup celebration get together in Sydney in 2003, when Prince Harry was helped out by a minder – a while earlier than the solar got here up.

It is humorous how vivid the reminiscence is, 20 years on. The younger Royal was sporting a Barmy Army T-shirt and he was decidedly worse for put on too – which was hardly stunning within the circumstances, amid a lot English euphoria. The man who was offering important help to the unsteady Prince seemed up on the photographer and stated: ‘You’re not going to take this image, are you?’ Remarkably, his forceful request labored; the digicam remained lowered and the second was not captured.

Sir Clive Woodward’s triumphant squad had relocated from Stadium Australia – means out within the western suburbs of town – to the Wharf bar down by the long-lasting harbour space at Circular Quay. My orders have been to ‘door-step’ the occasion, to attempt to seize a phrase with some heroes of the hour, or at the least come away with a way of how they have been having fun with their superb feat.

But it was so darkish, chilly and moist that all of them stayed inside and there was sufficient secrecy across the perform that supporters didn’t flip up exterior. So this observer – certainly the one sober Englishman in Sydney that evening, bar Jonny Wilkinson – reduce a bedraggled determine, stood at midnight, watching the festivities, briefly, earlier than retreating to sleep. There was one other Royal visitor, as Zara Phillips sat chatting to Mike Tindall, who would finally change into her husband.

At that stage, there have been excessive spirits, however it wasn’t complete bedlam. That got here later. Meanwhile, throughout town, England followers drank the place dry. They had turned up of their 1000’s. There have been tales of individuals reserving flights at a day’s discover, arriving in Australia, going to the sport and going straight again to the airport for a flight house. It value them 1000’s and so they didn’t care. They had flown by way of Japan, the Middle East, America and varied different factors on the atlas.

Prince Harry adopted England’s progress Down Under avidly – and joined in with the following celebrations (proper, with Sir Clive Woodward)

After their triumph within the remaining in opposition to Australia, the crew gathered for raucous festivities on the Wharf Bar in Sydney

Mail Sport’s Chris Foy believes he was the one sober Englishman within the metropolis (pictured: hooker Steve Thompson)

Your correspondent was not alleged to be there in any respect. My predecessor, Peter Jackson, was accountable for masking the England crew in these days and I had been informed to work by way of till after the quarter-finals, then come house. But having organized to remain Down Under for the rest of the event, utilizing vacation time, I used to be quickly put to work once more by an opportunistic boss.

This led to such distinctive eventualities as speaking to Wallaby legend Michael Lynagh on the cellphone, for his Mail Sport column, whereas sat on the ground within the hall of a hostel in Woolloomooloo, as drunken visitors stumbled over me on their option to mattress. Days later, a productive go to to the close by Star City on line casino allowed my brother, Andrew, and a good friend, Rick – who have been in Sydney, hoping to attend the ultimate – to purchase tickets from a pair of Australians who had provided to promote on the idea that ‘if it’s raining, the Poms will win’. 

They have been proper. England did win, simply. It was extremely tense, with the sport drifting into extra-time, earlier than the dramatic surge up-field which led to Wilkinson’s iconic drop objective. From our vantage level above the midway line, we knew it was heading in the right direction from the way in which an enormous swathe of England followers clad leapt up because the kick left the fly-half’s foot.

Jonny Wilkinson’s drop objective wrote his title and England’s into the game’s historical past books

After an evening of partying followers flocked to the gamers’ camp on the Manly Pacific Hotel (pictured: Lawrence Dallaglio)

Zara Phillips (left) would meet her now-husband Mike Tindall (proper) throughout the event

What adopted was a blur of ticker-tape and a trophy parade across the stadium, earlier than a good-natured slog by way of post-match interviews within the big media centre. What was way more memorable was the following debrief, on the Manly Pacific Hotel, the next afternoon.

It was as if Beatle-mania had come to Sydney’s north shore. The space was swamped by England followers, who had come to acclaim the champions. Thousands of them. How they weren’t nonetheless in mattress with monstrous hangovers is anybody’s guess. Maybe they hadn’t made it to mattress. That was actually the case for a handful of Red Rose gamers, who have been introduced again to their lodge in a Police van, having been rescued from a delirious mob of compatriots in Kings Cross.

The press convention that day was hilarious, as a number of the interviewees have been barely in a position to communicate correctly, such had been the extent of the partying. Players have been speaking to broadcasters whereas hiding beers – one in every hand – simply out of sight of the cameras. Jason Leonard stored strolling in direction of the home windows overlooking the road, to permit the hordes exterior one other glimpse of the Webb Ellis Cup. Every time he did it, the cheer was deafening.

When every of the champions had completed their media duties, they walked down a staircase, linked up with their spouse or girlfriend on the touchdown space after which descended into the foyer, which was a scene of complete pandemonium. Police held again the throng exterior because the England squad boarded a coach to attend one other perform. It was a precursor of what was to comply with, again at Heathrow airport and across the streets of London throughout the epic victory parade.

When England landed again house, an epic victory parade by way of Central London adopted