BACK PAGE HEADLINES The Times: King of the Poms prepares to give Aussies a kicking The Australian: France meet Waterloo in Wilkinson Daily Mail: You beauty Sydney Morning Herald: Wilkinson boots his boys into final Daily Express: Magnifique Herald Sun: Wilkinson leads English charge The Guardian: One step from heaven Australian Daily Telegraph: England hot on Jonny's heels Daily Mirror: Bootiful The West Australian: Wilkinson has world at his feet The Sun: King Toe... sweet chariot Daily Star: You booty The Daily Telegraph: High and mighty England The Independent: England joy at Wilkinson's heavenly aim

England beat France to reach the Rugby World Cup final and the star of the show was fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, who kicked all his side's points as they won 24-7 to set up a final meeting with old rivals Australia.

Wilkinson's image dominates Monday's newspapers both at home and abroad, with the Australian press lauding his fautless display almost as much as their English counterparts.

The Times headline reads: "King of the Poms prepares to give Aussies a kicking."

The paper's chief sports writer, Simon Barnes, looks beyond the dramatic events in front of 83,000 spellbound fans in Sydney to next Saturday's final against old rivals Australia.

He writes: "There are three great international team sports in Australia: cricket, rugby (two codes) and Pom-bashing, but the greatest of these is the last.

Australia's Herald Sun believes Wilkinson's performance against France was "peerless", adding that he "stood up to his critics in the most emphatic fashion to guide England to victory".

In The Guardian, Richard Williams focuses on the gritty determination that carried England past their European rivals.

"Once again sheer tenacity won the day for England against France," he says.

Ben Kimber in the Sydney Morning Herald is inclined to agree, saying "England looked like a team that does not know how to lose."

He adds: "In a wet and wild semi-final clash, England handled the conditions and the French to grind their way into the World Cup final on the most reliable of weapons; the boot of Jonny Wilkinson ".

The Daily Mail describes Wilkinson as the "Man with gold in his boots", while the Daily Telegraph's headline reads: "High and mighty England".

The Australian salutes England's hero as "remorseless", while The West Australian hails England's hero as a "champion fly-half".

However, they point out England's recent lack of sporting success against Australia in case anyone was getting carried away.

Report: England 24-7 France

"Saturday's final will provide a classic confrontation between the sporting arch rivals after Australia sealed the rugby league series against Great Britain on Saturday, Steve Waugh's Test team easily won the Ashes last summer and the Socceroos defeated England in February."

The tabloids, not normally likely to get too worked up about rugby, go overboard with the superlatives.

The Sun's front page captions Wilkinson's image with the headline "Now wallop the Wallabies" while tabloid rival the Daily Mirror goes with "Jonny B God".

The Mirror has what it claims is an exclusive with Wilkinson's mother, Philippa, who reveals she cannot bear to watch her son play and went for a walk instead.

"My husband watches and he lets me know Jonny is OK," she said. "I actually found out the score today by text message from him."

The French papers are unsurprisingly not in the mood for celebrating. Midi Olympique has the headline "Les Bleus drown in their dream".

It describes the English team as "a machine, or rather a steamroller", and says in the second half England "continued their work of demolition".

And sports paper L'Equipe pays tribute to the accuracy of Wilkinson's kicking, saying it was the "end of an adventure" for France.

They conclude that when England meet Australia in the final, "the Red Rose XV" will be "carrying the flag of the northern hemisphere" into battle.