Neil Back reveals the butchered try and the late substitute that changed the course of the 2003 World Cup final
Former England loose forward Neil Back has revealed the pivotal sequence of events that allowed Jonny Wilkinson to land his iconic match-winning drop goal against the Wallabies in the 2003 World Cup final.
The three-pointer landed by Wilkinson on the brink of full-time in extra-time to hand England their first-ever world title has long been heralded as one of the most iconic moments in the history of the game.
The 97-test playmaker’s exploits pushed England into a 20-17 lead with mere seconds left on the clock, leaving Australia no time to force a comeback as Martin Johnson became the first Englishman to lift the Webb Ellis Cup aloft.
Speaking to RugbyPass in an exclusive interview alongside ex-Wallabies centurion Matt Giteau, Back – who started at openside flanker for England in that match – pinpointed two key moments throughout the contest that led to arguably the most memorable and dramatic drop goal of all-time.
After having gone behind early in the match thanks to a Lote Tuqiri try inside the opening five minutes, Wilkinson landed three consecutive penalties that pushed England into the lead by the half hour mark.
A Jason Robinson try near the end of the half left Sir Clive Woodward’s men with a 14-5 advantage at half-time, but Back re-called a butchered try by lock Ben Kay that could have given his side an even healthier lead.
“We’re playing well, we’re challenging them, we create an opportunity,” Back said of a loose ball that was toed through by blindside flanker Richard Hill to place England deep inside opposition territory.
With the Wallabies scrambling defensively, an overlap opened up for the English just metres from the Australian tryline, but a dropped ball by Kay left the reigning Six Nations champions reeling without any points.
“A ruck, a little pass from Back, Daws [England halfback Matt Dawson] is at the contact and then passes to Ben Kay. He drops the ball,” Back laughed as he recalled the incident.
That handling blunder allowed the Wallabies to claw their way back into the contest, with three second half penalties to Wallabies midfielder Elton Flatley – including one on the stroke of full-time – sent the game into a period of extra-time.
Wilkinson and Flatley traded a penalty goal apiece to leave the score tied up at 17-all with three minutes to play, with another period of sudden-death action looming on the horizon.
However, Back said the way in which he and his teammates rallied behind Kay following his error, as well as the introduction of Lewis ‘Mad Dog’ Moody in the dying stages of the encounter, laid the foundations for Wilkinson to land his famous drop goal.
“Lewis ‘Mad Dog’ Moody was called it for a reason. He chased everything, he chased the ball like a bone, and he created a charge down on Mat Rogers, their fullback, that skewed his kick,” Back said.
“We got a lineout about 38 metres out, and this is where this next jump call comes into play because if we’d have ranked Ben Kay for dropping the ball over the line in that first half, he wouldn’t have made this lineout call now.
“You’re 38 metres out, you’ve got a minute 10 [seconds] on the clock, it’s 17-all, and you’ve got to get in a position to score a try, kick a penalty or drop a goal.
“Because Ben Kay was supported by his teammates, he made this call. If you wanted to secure possession to get in a position to score points to win a game in a World Cup final, any game, are you going to throw it to the front of the lineout to Martin Johnson, your captain, short throw?
“Are you going to throw it to Ben Kay, your lineout leader, your lineout caller?
“Or are you going to throw it to Mad Dog Moody, who’d just come on like a flipping crazy man with a midget – and that’s me – lifting him behind?
“What way are you going to go? Well, if Ben Kay wasn’t mentally tough, if the players didn’t support him, he’d have called it to Johnno [Johnson] – easy ball, front ball, secure the possession.
“We sort of referred to Hannibal, who won battles in wars, doing exactly the opposite of what his opponents expected, or history had dictated what happened before, so he was brave enough to call it to the back of the lineout [to Moody].”
Moody won the ensuing lineout throw, and two phases later, after a sniping dart around the ruck fringes from Dawson to put his side inside the Australian 22, Wilkinson popped through the historic drop goal to give England the victory.
While England are yet to add a second World Cup crown to their name, Back said the achievements of the 2003 squad can never be taken away from them.
“I was lucky enough to win everything you could win as a Northern Hemisphere club and international player, [but] this was a World Cup. We were world champions for the next four years. No one could ever take that away from us,” he said.
“You’re a world champion for the rest of your life.”
Join us at 3pm Sunday afternoon UK time for a full replay of the 2003 World Cup final
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments