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 Bill goes back to Oz Australia celebrates its World Cup victory
Posted: Saturday November 06, 1999 09:36 PM
CARDIFF, Wales (CNN/SI) -- It was the imposing figure of Australia's 6-foot-7 captain John Eales who walked up to receive the Rugby World Cup from Queen Elizabeth II, and hoisted it before a packed Millennium Stadium following its 35-12 victory over France on Saturday. Australia's World Cup campaign had been dubbed "Bring Back Bill", and that is precisely what the men from Down Under did. Australia first won the Webb Ellis Trophy at Twickenham in England in 1991. The trophy is named after William Webb Ellis, who is recognized as the creator of the game. Australia became the first team to win the Rugby World Cup twice as two tries and Matt Burke's radar goalkicking gave the Wallabies a 35-12 victory over France in the final at Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Winger Ben Tune crossed for the opening try on 66 minutes and replacement forward Owen Finegan got another in injury time, to lift the match after a dour kicking duel between Burke and French semifinal hero Christophe Lamaison. Burke finished with seven penalties and two conversions for 25 points while Lamaison got all France's points with four penalties. France had been accused of dirty tactics in the semifinal win over New Zealand and Australian captain John Eales threatened to lead the side off the field after making some on-field complaints to referee Andre Watson on Saturday. "There were certainly things happening on the field we weren't too happy about," Eales said. "The French are such a good side that they don't need to play like that to be competitive." Eales suffered a torn cornea in his red and swollen right eye. Team doctor John Best said three other Wallaby players -- Richard Harry, Michael Foley and George Gregan -- all got eye injuries while flanker David Wilson was kicked in the face. Australia's win protected the 100 percent record of Southern Hemisphere nations in the four World Cup tournaments -- New Zealand won in 1987, Australia in 1991 and South Africa in 1995. Queen Elizabeth II, just retained as Australia's head of state in a referendum Down Under, presented the William Webb Ellis trophy to Wallaby captain John Eales, an avowed republican. They didn't talk politics. "I said thanks very much your Majesty, it's a very special moment," said Eales, who along with Tim Horan and Jason Little was one of three members who also played in 1991. The Australian team then stood in a circle around the trophy and sang their anthem, "Advance Australia Fair." "We had a lot of pride in ourselves and we had a lot of pride in our defense. The tries made it a lot more pleasant in the last few minutes." French president Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin traveled to Cardiff for the match as French society got behind the national team as it tried to win its first final and add it to the soccer World Cup won last year. "They were better than us," said French assistant coach Pierre Villepreux. "They kicked well, passed well and didn't lose the ball. They have superb players and scored two superb tries." Captain Raphael Ibanez also praised Australia as the superior team. "There's obviously a lot of sadness today," said Ibanez. "But there's a lot of pride too. It was an honor to represent French rugby in a World Cup final, but we were a little lost out there at times." The French players reinvented themselves in the remarkable 43-31 semifinal defeat of New Zealand, which came after a horrible season and a stuttering World Cup campaign. Suddenly they had changed from a disjointed team of men out playing of position to an attacking force to rival the greatest in the history of French rugby, and Australia treated them with due respect Saturday. But the promise of rampant running rugby failed to come true in a first half dominated by the boots of Burke and Lamaison. Lamaison struck first inside two minutes and it wasn't until the 25th that Burke's third penalty edged the Wallabies to the front, at 9-6, for the first time in the game. A fourth Burke penalty, in first half injury time, gave Australia a six-point lead as referee Andre Watson called an end to a disappointing first half. Both teams had chances to grab a first-half try but the rival defenses dealt well with the rare threats, or happily gave up penalties to kill opportunities. Australia' best chance of the half came after five minutes when flanker Matt Cockbain was luckily played onside after France charged down a Stephen Larkham kick. Cockbain sent center Daniel Herbert on a 40-meter burst and winger Joe Roff was stopped just five meters short. Australia got a penalty from the play, missed by Burke, but crucially France had survived its first major test. Abdel Benazzi suffered heartbreak in 1995 when he messed up a try, which would have given France a semifinal win over eventual champions South Africa. He thought he buried those ghosts on 17 minutes when he plunged over, but Watson had called play back for Olivier Magne's knock on of Lamaison's cross-field chip. Lamaison missed a 48-meter penalty attempt two minutes into the second half before Burke widened the margin to nine points. Then Lamaison, who sparked the comeback from 24-10 down against New Zealand with a couple of drop goals, pushed a hurried attempt wide as the Wallaby defense proved more zealous than their All Blacks counterparts. Lamaison got another penalty and then so did Burke after Roff had come agonizingly close to the opening try. He went through on a wicked diagonal run, coming in from the left to meet Tim Horan's inside pass and losing the ball as he crashed to earth near France's left-hand post. The French conceded possession from the ensuing scrum and were penalized in front. The penalties continued -- Lamaison getting his next on 61 and Burke replying four minutes later to put Australia nine clear for the third time in the game. As the match appeared to be drifting to another tryless contest, like the 1995 final and Australia's semifinal victory over South Africa, Tune struck for the decisive score. Scrumhalf George Gregan created it with a short jigging run and his pass to Horan was quickly shuffled to Finegan and then onto Tune who showed great strength to get the ball across. Burke's conversion, from wide on the right, made it 28-2 and Australia's composure took over. With 5:42 of injury time gone, Gregan sparked the second try. His brilliant inside flick pass sent Finegan on a 30 meter run through six defenders to seal it. Burke's conversion took him to 101 points for the tournament, second to Argentina's Gonzalo Quesada on 102.The Associated Press contributed to this report. | |||
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