KEY POINTS:
Five who arrived
Jonny Wilkinson (England)
Okay we already knew who he was and that he was a special player. But it was in the World Cup final when his composure held rock solid right to the last that we realised just how special he was.
Stephen Jones (Wales)
Supposedly Wales, having thrown their B side out to play the All Blacks, had no chance. No one reckoned on the team playing out of their skins. Guiding them expertly was young Jones and after years of searching for a new hero in the No 10 shirt, Wales finally found one.
Josh Lewsey (England)
England had a troubled history with their No 15 jersey. Remember Jonathan Webb? Simon Hodgkinson? Marcus Rose? Josh Lewsey came along and gave them stability at the back and during the World Cup he showed he was quick, brave and defensively astute.
Dan Carter (New Zealand)
Established second five Aaron Mauger was injured during the early pool games so Dan Carter stepped in and played superbly. He was elusive, clever, composed and accurate and if it hadn't been for a knee injury, would most probably have kept Mauger out of the team.
Stirling Mortlock (Australia)
The big centre had been around for a bit and was recognised as a good, solid, strong and direct. By the time he had carved up the All Blacks in the semifinal he was recognised as being a little more than that.
The best game
England 20-17 Australia
At Telstra Stadium, Sydney
It just didn't get any better than this. The colonial master playing the subordinate in a World Cup final. There was animosity on the surface, respect underneath and, as a consequence, both sides went hard, very hard, for the full 80. Elton Flatley had to knock over one of the greatest pressure kicks to take the game into extra time and when Flatley knocked over another with only a couple of minutes remaining, everyone was scrambling to determine just what procedure would be next. No one found out as England won a lineout, drove the ball up the guts another 30 metres and worked in-field where Wilkinson struck the sweetest drop-goal off his right peg.
The best game we have forgotten
England 28-17 Wales
At Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Wales had given the All Blacks a massive scare in the final group game and were buoyed by their new approach of flinging the ball around and having a crack.
They started against England in similar vein, running in two well-worked tries just before the break which rocked their opponents. England were struggling with the pace and width and only managed to rescue the game when Will Greenwood scored a fortunate try early in the second half.
From there they reverted to grinding the Welsh and using the boot of Wilkinson to do the rest.
* Five enduring memories
Rupeni the magician
Fiji sensed they had a real chance of an upset in their pool game against Scotland. Everyone agreed when Rupeni Caucaunibuca, not once, but twice took off from deep inside his own half and weaved and bobbed and left defenders flailing as he cantered over for two of the most spectacular tries ever seen.
Keeping watch on Serevi
Waisale Serevi has done some incredible things on a rugby field. Perhaps the most incredible was playing against Japan wearing a wrist watch. It was no elegant time piece either. It was one of those giant G-Shock jobs which makes you wonder how on earth referee Nigel Williams missed it.
Jerry left to front
The All Blacks had just crashed out of the semifinal in a poor display. There was disappointment across the nation and a need for some answers. But when TvOne tried to get some comment from the All Black camp only Jerry Collins would front. He'd played his heart out, was visibly upset and was still only 22. His bravery was admirable and served to show the men higher up the chain were shirking their duty.
Stirling's go slow
It was as if the whole incident happened in slow motion. Seven minutes into the semifinal and Carlos Spencer was running crossfield in the Wallaby 22. An All Black try seemed probable until Spencer released the big pass at the wrong time straight into the arms of Mortlock. The big Wallaby then took an eternity to gallop to the far end and dot down.
The axemen
In the aftermath of the All Blacks defeat, NZRU heavies Jock Hobbs and Chris Moller called a press conference to announce the post of All Black coach would be advertised. It signalled the end of the road for incumbent John Mitchell, ot at least it did when Moller decided to publicly list the areas where he felt the coach had got it wrong.
