Throwback Thursday: England Win the Rugby World Cup

Last month, England's Rugby World Cup dreams were left in ruins by successive defeats to Wales and Australia. It embarrassed the team, cost the economy tens of millions, and eventually saw coach Stuart Lancaster leave his post. Then again, it almost certainly led to less TV and radio spots for Matt Dawson; every cloud…

Despite that small mercy, it cannot have been a pleasant experience for England to lose to their comparatively tiny and economically dependent neighbours, and then their former penal colony, particularly on home turf. They dish it out as well as they take it, however: 12 years ago this week, on 22 November 2003, they beat the Wallabies in Sydney with a dramatic last-minute drop-goal.

What's more, this was a far bigger prize than a spot in the knockout phase (where England would have eventually had to face New Zealand, who would have beaten them every time if they had played weekly until the next tournament). In 2003, the game was the World Cup final.

Hosts Australia got to the deciding match with a clean sweep of pool stage wins, dispatching Argentina, Romania, Namibia and Ireland. It was not as bland as that might sound, however: victory over Ireland was secured by a single point, while the unfortunate Namibian side were crushed 142-0 (this remains the biggest margin of victory in the tournament's history).

England's pool stage also saw four wins from four (not an easy feat, as Stuart Lancaster will confirm). They were among the favourites ahead of the tournament having won a Grand Slam Six Nations title earlier in the year, and backed that up by beating South Africa 25-6 and trashing minnows Uruguay 111-13. Georgia were also dispatched with ease, while Samoa provided a sterner test but eventually fell 35-22. Coached by Clive Woodward and captained by Martin Johnson (that giant stone statue brought to life for the sole purpose of rugby) England were on a roll.

As hosts and reigning champions, Australia looked extremely strong too. Their quarter-final opponents were Scotland, who fell 33-16 to the Wallabies. For the semi-final they faced neighbours New Zealand, who were fancied ahead of the Aussies to clinch the Webb Ellis Trophy, but a clinical start-to-finish performance put Australia in the final for the third time in four tournaments. England awaited.

They had got there by beating Wales 28-17, and France by 24 points to 4 to reach their second final. The first – 12 years earlier – had ended in defeat to Australia at Twickenham.

Which, as you can either imagine or remember, set up a very tasty final at Sydney's Stadium Australia (at the time called Telstra Stadium, now ANZ Stadium, but let's keep this simple and free of corporate branding). You could call it a grudge match. There is no love lost between the English and Aussies on the international sporting stage, particularly in rugby and cricket. England were also looking to avenge their defeat 12 years earlier by beating the Aussies in their own backyard.

Australia were ahead after just six minutes through a Lote Tuqiri try, but England led at half-time, with three Jonny Wilkinson penalties and a Jason Robinson try giving them a 14-5 advantage.

The Wallabies spent the second half slowly reducing the deficit, with three Elton Flatley penalties – the last in the dying moments – levelling the scores at 14-14.

And so rugby did something it's not especially famous for: it went to extra time.

Two minutes in Wilkinson scored a penalty to edge England back in front; then, with just three minutes of extra time remaining, Flatley levelled it up with another penalty for the Wallabies. The tournament was now on the verge of being decided by sudden death, with only Flatley and Wilkinson looking capable of winning it for their respective sides.

And then, with the clock ticking through the final seconds, this happened.

Australia kicked back to England with no more than 10 seconds left. The ball was quickly kicked to touch, and England were World Champions. They had become the first (and remain the only) northern hemisphere side to win the world title; Woodward was subsequently knighted in the 2004 New Year's honours. It was a big deal.

How it changed rugby's status in England is hard to say; certainly there was a boost, but whether this has lasted is unclear. Perhaps it won over success starved fans from other sports. In 2003 the England football team were 15 months removed from a World Cup quarter-final defeat to Brazil and failing to make the most of the burgeoning 'golden generation'. In cricket they had not won the Ashes since 1987, with Australia enjoying the longest spell of dominance in the history of the series.

Winning the Rugby World Cup did not make up for these maladies: many football fans are not especially interested in rugby, not every rugby fan is nuts about cricket, and so on and so forth.

But it was nevertheless a huge success for the country. And English sports fans – for all their ideals about supporting a team even if they're losing, and preferably in pissing rain – do want success every now and again. This was not a sea change moment, because rugby is still a relatively niche sport when compared with the accelerating football juggernaut. Right or wrong, it is still perceived to be largely the preserve of upper-class lads named Rory who spend their down-time from work at Canary Warf on dad's new boat.

But it was an English side achieving success on a global stage. That sort of thing doesn't happen too often, so it's best to enjoy it when it does. The nightmare that unfolded last month was proof enough of that.