England v Australia commentary

20.13 - END OF EXTRA TIME, England 20 Australia 17 - The whistle goes and the exhausted English players raise their arms in triumph. England are world champions for the first time since the tournament began in 1987.

19.23 - DROP GOAL. England get the ball from the restart and work their way into drop goal position. Wilkinson sets up and puts it between the sticks to seal the World Cup 20-17.

18.10 - PENALTY. The Wallabies get the ball back and win a crucial penalty 30m out, 15m in from the left sideline. An ice cool Flatley bangs it over to tie things up again 17-17.

16.01 - Australia are throwing everything at the English and Mat Rogers runs into a half gap 20m out only to give away a penalty for not playing the ball when he was tackled.

13.55 - This time England lose their lineout ball to give the Wallabies possession on the English 22m. They go wide on the right and Tuqiri steamrolls one tackler before being pushed into touch 10m out.

13.00 - A clever grubber kick by Wallaby halfback George Gregan in behind the English defence forces them into touch 40m out from their own line but the Australians lose yet another lineout to give away the ball. Larkham also returns from another visit to the bloodbin.

12.33 - Rookie Australia prop Matt Dunning replaces Bill Young.

10.01 - Flatley drop kicks the ball down into England's 22m to start round two of extra time.

10.26 - The first half of extra time ends with England leading 17-14. The teams will now have a five minute break then play another 10 minutes for the second half. If the score was tied at the end of that period, the match will go into sudden death extra time.

9.35 - Catt and Wilkinson both attempt drop goals but the first is charged down and the second goes wide of the posts.

8.36 - Another charging run from Catt gets England into the Australia 22m.

5.37 - England make two substitutions with prop Jason Leonard taking over from Phil Vickery and Iain Balshaw coming on for a limping Josh Lewsey at fullback.

3.50 - Mike Catt, who replaced Tindall at second five during the break, charges into the Wallaby line but England lose the ball on Australia's 22m.

0.43 - PENALTY. England immediately get the chance to take the lead with a penalty for Johnson being pulled down in the air from a lineout 45m out. Wilkinson puts over a beauty from just metres inside the right sideline to put his side ahead 17-14.

0.01 - Wilkinson begins the first half of extra time.

80.00 - FULLTIME. Australia 14 England 14. Andre Watson blows the whistle just after Flatley's penalty to send the game into extra time.

78.45 - PENALTY. The Wallabies are given a penalty for the English collapsing the scrum. Flatley lines it up 20m out and about 15m to the right side of the posts. He puts it down the middle and ties things up 14-14.

77.38 - Larkham again punts deep into the English 22m to force a lineout. England knock the ball forward in the air and the Wallabies have probably their last chance to attack from the scrum.

76.13 - Another Australian lineout is lost but the English knock on the ball to give it back to them.

75.13 - Blindside flanker George Smith puts down a low pass on the left touchline 22m out as the Wallabies desperately attack.

74.00 - Australia finally get back into English territory with a 40m lineout after a long punt from Larkham.

71.05 - England continue to pour on the pressure on attack with Australia unable to get out of their own half. Wilkinson sets up for a drop goal from in front, 25m out but pushes it wide.

70.23 - Joe Roff replaces Sailor on Australia's right wing.

68.38 - Deja vu. England have a great chance to wrap the game up with a 5m lineout but fumble for a third time as they spun the ball out to the midfield.

66.18 - England on attack again but lose chance with another dropped ball.

62.50 - The rain has stopped but the ball is still slippery and both teams are struggling to hold on to it. England just looked to be regaining some momentum with a couple of barging runs taking them up to the Australian 22m for the first time in quite a while but then knocked on.

59.42 - PENALTY. Australia still can't make any yards with the ball in hand against the English defence but win another penalty 37m out in front of the posts and Flatley nails it to cut England's lead to 14-11.

56.30 - Double substitution for the Wallabies as coach Eddie Jones gives his pack some fresh legs. Jeremy Paul replaces Brendan Cannon at hooker and Matt Cockbain takes over from David Lyons at number eight.

55.17 - Larkham's cut mouth is bleeding again and he is sent to the sideline once more as Giteau comes on.

53.25 - Australia win another penalty just inside English half but Flatley's attempt just drops under crossbar.

51.23 - Rain starts to fall.

48.12 - PENALTY. The Wallabies end a good period of attack with a penalty to Flatley to cut England's lead to 14-8. David Giffin also comes on to try and help the troubled lineout by replacing Nathan Sharpe.

41.40 - Australia lose another lineout when English lock Martin Johnson pulls in the ball.

40.47 - Australia have first chance to attack with lineout inside English 22m but they lose the ball.

40.01 - Larkham kicks off deep to get the second half underway.

40.53 - HALFTIME. After opening the scoring in the seventh minute, Australia have failed to add any more points in the half and England have come back to lead 14-5 at the break. There has not been much between the teams but the English appear to be taking control as the game wears on. Like they did against the French, they are smothering the Wallabies with their defence and keeping them trapped in their own territory.

38.23 - TRY. Jason Robinson finishes off a break from 38m out to score England's opening try. From the breakdown, they went wide on the left and number eight Lawrence Dallaglio sucked in two tacklers ranging wide then threw an inside pass to Wilkinson in support. He lobbed it back outside to Robinson who sped into the corner. Wilkinson misses the conversion to leave England leading 14-5.

35.50 - England spins it wide and second five Mike Tindall bulldozes through Wallaby winger Wendell Sailor with a 25m run up the left touchline before being dragged into touch 15m out from the tryline.

32.50 - The Wallabies are really struggling to break through the English defence and are being trapped playing the game inside their own half.

30.54 - Larkham retakes the field for Australia.

29.00 - Referee Andre Watson awards the Wallabies a penalty for England collapsing a scrum. Unlike previous penalties, Australia go for the shot at goal from 38m out close to the right touchline but Flatley hooks it wide.

27.50 - PENALTY. Wilkinson's boot remains as accurate as ever and England lead 9-5.

26.42 - England are putting some real pressure on the Australian forwards and seem to be getting on top. They win a penalty from a 10m scrum just to the left of the posts and, after seeming to consider a tap, they chuck it to Wilkinson.

24.45 - Wilkinson was down in back play after hurting himself tackling Giteau but gets up after treatment and plays on.

24.40 - English lock Ben Kay bombs a certain try when he knocks on a pass metres out from the Australian line. A loose ball was toed ahead by the English and they regathered in the Wallaby 22m and spun it wide to Kay unmarked.

22.35 - Wilkinson lets rip with his first drop goal attempt but pushes it well wide.

20.45 - England rip the ball off Australia at a breakdown inside their own half and punt it downfield to set up a footrace between Tuqiri and winger Ben Cohen. Tuqiri does superbly scooping up the ball 5m from his own line and beating two tackles before kicking safely to touch.

19.45 - PENALTY. Wilkinson bangs over his second shot at goal from just over 40m to give England a 6-5 lead.

18.22 - England get penalty for Larkham tackling a player without the ball. He cuts his mouth in the process and goes to the bloodbin to be replaced by Matt Giteau.

16.10 - England go through nearly a dozen phases on their own 40m line but cannot make any ground against bruising defence from Australia identical to what they showed to beat the All Blacks in the semi-finals.

12.40 - Australia given a penalty for England playing the ball off their feet in a ruck just past halfway. They again kick for touch rather than going for goal but lose ball in lineout.

11.20 - PENALTY. England have first scoring chance after Australia give away a penalty just inside their half. Wilkinson slots it from the middle of the field to make the score 5-3 to the Wallabies.

6.30 - TRY. Tuqiri scores the first try and points of the final in the left corner. From a scrum on the English 22m, first five Stephen Larkham puts up a pin-point cross field bomb and Tuqiri jumps over his opposite Jason Robinson to pull in the ball on the tryline. Second five Elton Flatley hits the post with his converion to leave the score 5-0.

4.03 - Australia given penalty 40m out from English line after prop Trevor Woodman spotted by touch judge throwing a punch in a ruck. The Wallabies turn down the shot at goal to punt downfield for a lineout.

1.41 - Australia have the first attacking chance after an English mistake gave them the ball just inside their opponent's territory. Fullback Mat Rogers makes half break running into backline wide on left but winger Lote Tuqiri puts down a tough pass.

0.01 - England first five Jonny Wilkinson kicks off to get the game underway.

0.00 - Welcome to Telstra Stadium for the Rugby World Cup final between Australia and England. It has been raining in Sydney during the day but the skies have cleared as the teams come out in front of a near capacity crowd. The field will still be slightly wet and heavy underfoot though, which most would expect to aid England's cause. The crowd is a fantastic spectacle with virtually every fan having donned their team's colours for the final. The yellow jerseys appear to slightly outnumber the white but there is a massive amount of English support.

Full World Cup coverage