World Cup final, 2 November 1991
Twickenham

Australia 12
Try: Daly
Con: Lynagh
Pens: Lynagh (2)
England 6
Pens: Webb (2)
England had spent the entire tournament relying on their forwards and the boot of Rob Andrew.

But bizarrely they threw that out of the window come the final, instead opting for a more open, running style in a bid to crack the Australians.

It failed as the Wallabies took victory courtesy of a solitary converted try.

Again the final was not the classic many had hoped for, aside from two major turning points.

The first came in the opening half when the mighty Willie Ofahengaue broke from the line-out, ripping through the English defence in the process.

As the Wallaby forwards burrowed towards the opposition line, Tony Daly pounced across for the four points.

England were by no means out of the game after the restart and came within a fingertip of scoring.

Facing a 12-3 deficit, England boasted a clear overlap but David Campese pounced to knock forward a pass to the open Rory Underwood.

SKIPPER’S VERDICT

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Referee Derek Bevan opted for a penalty despite arguments from the English camp for a penalty try.

To this day, the argument drags on.

England insist Underwood would have easily ran in for the score, while the Australians argue he would have been caught by their back-tracking defenders.

Full-back Jonathan Webb slotted over the penalty but England’s only clear-cut chance had gone.

Campese, despite the infamous incident of the final, had proved to be one of the stars of the tournament as Australia went on to win as clearly the best side in the event.

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Australia: Marty Roebuck; Bob Egerton, Jason Little, Tim Horan, David Campese; Michael Lynagh, Nick Farr-Jones; Tony Daly, Phil Kearns, Ewen McKenzie; John Eales, Rod McCall; Willy Ofahengaue, Simon Poidevin, Troy Coker

England: Jon Webb; Rory Underwood, Jeremy Guscott, Will Carling, Simon Halliday; Rob Andrew, Richard Hill; Jason Leonard, Brian Moore, Jeff Probyn; Paul Ackford, Wade Dooley; Mickey Skinner, Peter Winterbottom, Mike Teague

Just one little thing to think about. If I am not mistaken the frontrow that struggled so much on the end of year tour is exactly the same one that had so much success for the Tahs during the super 12 and actually demolished the Bulls in the semis – maybe that is a point to ponder.

As for the depth at junior levels (semis in under 19s and runners up in the u/21s).

I wonder what does Clyde “the ausie” Rathbone have to say about all this.

Connolly won Super 10 titles with the Reds and took them to the top of the table in ’96 ( i think ).

The Wallabies as whole were built too much on the Brumbies philosophy: Buy as many good players as possible. Pay them too much. Teach them to play robotic NFL/NRL esque rugger. Suck the life out of any true Australian Rugby Union tradition by prostituting itself out to League and foreign players. The last Wallaby team that I respected was the 1991 RWC champions. Where are Farr-Jones, Horan, Little, Lynagh et al?

Connoly is a much better coach than Jones ever was. It is a pity that he has to take the reigns of a travelling roadshow disaster. He may build a great team, but won’t see the benefit of it in his own tenure.

Actually I hear they wanted Straueli, but the Sharks were idiotic enough to employ him first, so he was unavailable.