England hero Jonny Wilkinson said his last-minute drop goal, which won England the World Cup final against Australia, was the culmination of years of work. The Newcastle fly-half is widely recognised as one of the greatest players in English rugby history and he produced another superb performance at Sydney's Telstra Stadium on Saturday.
"It's indescribable," he said after his side's 20-17 victory.
"It's something we've wanted, we've worked for so long both individually and as a team."
He added: "The work goes back four or five years.
"We've tried to put it in for every single game, we've put ourselves on the line.
"We've said we wanted to win every single game. We've put ourselves under that pressure and we knew it was going to be hard."
Wilkinson said the noise generated by a World Cup record crowd of 82,957 had been deafening.
 |  We've got so many people to thank for coming this far |
"Once we came out, it's been one of the first times I wasn't really able to hear Johnno's (England captain Martin Johnson's) team talk," he said.
"We were in the huddle, and I still couldn't hear the guy next to me despite being about two yards from him.
"It was an incredible atmosphere. We've got so many people to thank for coming this far," added Wilkinson of the massed ranks of England supporters inside and outside the stadium.
"And the Australian fans as well have been fantastic. We're just happy today we came out on the right side."
MMIX
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England heroes profiled