Northern | US

'Immense' - How Twitter reacted to England's memorable victory over the All Blacks


Curry and Savea embrace
Comments
Comment

Jonny Wilkinson described England’s 19-7 victory over New Zealand as “immense” as the sporting world took to social media after a memorable World Cup semi-final.

ADVERTISEMENT

England put in one of their best-ever performances to down the All Blacks and reach the final in Japan, and World Cup winner Wilkinson was one of the first to pay tribute.

Wilkinson, who guided England to success in the 2003 final against host nation Australia, posted on Twitter: “Immense!!

“Individually and together as a team….immense! On to next week’s final. Can’t wait!”

Ben Cohen, who also played in the 2003 decider, tweeted: “@EnglandRugby were simply incredible today!! #Worlds2019”

Another 2003 hero, Jason Robinson, simply said: “Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss!!!!!! @rugbyworldcup final here we come!!!!! #ENGvNZL”

Ex-England star Austin Healey had even more reason to celebrate, posting: “The greatest 41st birthday ever … Manu, Maro, Ford, Underhill, Curry … everyone amazing.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Just over three months have passed since England edged out New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup final at Lord’s, and plenty of mischievous social media users have drawn comparisons.

England’s Barmy Army, a supporters club, posted a photoshopped picture of England rugby head coach Eddie Jones running out New Zealand counterpart Steve Hansen.

Jimmy Neesham, who played for the Black Caps in the dramatic super-over defeat in July, said he had muted the words ‘England’, ‘World Cup’ and ‘2019’ forever on his phone.

ADVERTISEMENT

Former England footballer Gary Lineker put his spin on proceedings, saying: “I’m already an expert on this rugby malarchy, and confidently predict that England will beat the Germans in the final. Come On England.”

The official England football account said: “Congratulations on reaching the @rugbyworldcup final, @EnglandRugby!”

Four-time Olympic sailing champion Ben Ainslie was also full of praise, tweeting: “Well@done @EnglandRugby just brilliant!”

Plenty others praised the performance and Eddie Jones.

https://twitter.com/jimhamilton4/status/1188033316403974144
https://twitter.com/Phil_Vickery/status/1188036354262876160
https://twitter.com/mrdanwalker/status/1188041887816540160
https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup/status/1188044052777750530
https://twitter.com/RugbyReg/status/1188037687598448640
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1188038020739584000

WATCH: World Rugby’s match highlights as England beat New Zealand in Yokohama 

Stream Nations Championship 2026 LIVE

Hemispheres collide in the new Nations Championship. Stream live, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV.

Watch on RPTV
Starts 4th July 2026 - USA only.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

N
NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

36 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Copied to clipboard

Share Article close