Although he is.............................. :rolleyes:

 

ok SIR:D

ok SIR:D

 

You're welcome.;)

an odd for today SA-ARG....what do you think Mark?

an odd for today SA-ARG....what do you think Mark?

 

The way things have been going, anything's possible.................... :rolleyes:

England's rugby win scoops the ratings

 

Last updated at 17:39pm on 14th October 2007 Comments

England's beating France in Rugby World cup semi-final was the most watched sporting event this year. Twelve million viewers tuned in during the crucial last five minutes of the game when England pulled away to win 14-9.

England could make history next weekend by being the only title-holder ever to retain the Cup if they beat Argentina or South Africa in the final.

 

40,000 fans descended on the French captial to watch the game

 

Celebrations contined throughout the night while fans in England desperately tried to book transport for the final

 

Read more...

• Wild celebrations as Golden Boots Wilkinson fires England into the Rugby World Cup final

South Africa are still the hot favourites at odds of 10/11 but England's win shortened the odds of them retaining their title to 6/4.

It was a remarkable comeback for England, who were thrashed 36-0 by South Africa in their opening match but may get the chance for revenge next week

England rugby fans will be trying to make it to Paris to watch their sporting heroes by road, rail, sea and air next weekend.

 

Demand for seats on all forms of transport will see tickets snapped up quickly as supporters rush to be part of the experience and the much sought-after tickets for the game are changing hands for up to £2,000.

Accommodation in the French capital, where the Rugby World Cup final is being staged, is also likely to be harder to come by in the better hotels and guest houses.

 

Fans celebrating the win in France

 

Swing low sweet Chariot - England could make history next week

 

More than 40,000 England fans descended on Paris over the weekend and the same number is expected to journey to the Stade de France for the final next Saturday. During the hour after last night's semi-final match 5,000 people logged onto Eurostar's website to search for tickets.

Jonny Wilkinson, the star fly-half scored a perfect drop goal just three minutes from the final whistle, securing England's place in the final next Saturday.

Hero of the match Wilkinson said: 'We have faced some incredible teams in this tournament – and none stronger than the one we have taken out tonight. My body's never felt so sore.

'It's a great experience but you can't fool yourselves for a second that the guys aren't going to be thinking about next week straight away.'

Of his own kicking, he added: 'It has been a funny story, this World Cup. Some have gone over and some have not. You just go back to it and give it all you have got.'

 

Winner: Jonny Wilkinson kicks a drop goal to seal dramatic victory

 

The England team are expected to take a well-earned rest today after a tense match which saw the sides separated by only a point for most of the 80 minutes.

 

English fans celebrate their win at the Effiel Tower

 

Coach Brian Ashton said: "We've got the players who know how to win a game."

He added: "I wouldn't be surprised if we finish the job."

After the match, Captain Phil Vickery said it was "one of those very, very special days when the underdog rises up and manages to get through".

The Prime Minister was among those who congratulated them.

"This is a proud day for for the country and I wish the team the best of luck for the final," he said.

^Suck on that, all you Aussies and Froggies!!:P

It was a remarkable comeback for England, who were thrashed 36-0 by South Africa in their opening match but may get the chance for revenge next week

 

O Really?

 

If the opening match was against South Africa, what was that match against the USA about?

The Prime Minister was among those who congratulated them.

"This is a proud day for for the country and I wish the team the best of luck for the final," he said.

 

Before adding off-mic "But Scotland are the better team"

Wilkinson 'tougher than in 2003'

 

Wilkinson's success rate has fallen but he is still a massive influence

 

Jonny Wilkinson is mentally tougher now than when he helped England to win the World Cup in 2003, says Rugby Football Union director of rugby Rob Andrew. Fly-half Wilkinson has kicked the vital points on England's journey to a second straight final despite his success rate not being as high as usual.

"He has probably missed more than he would like to have," said Andrew.

"He hasn't let that affect him and I think it would have done so much more in the last World Cup than this one."

 

Interview: England legend Rob Andrew

Jonny Wilkinson's goal-kicking masterclass

Wilkinson, who kicked the winning drop-goal in the final four years ago, went into Saturday's semi-final against France with a 62.5% success rate in the tournament.

He kicked nine points including a late penalty and a drop-goal in the 14-9 victory but missed several earlier attempts.

Former England fly-half Andrew said: "He has dusted himself down if he has missed something, got back on with the game and had enormous confidence that he is going to knock the next one over."

England beat Australia courtesy of a Wilkinson drop-goal to win the World Cup four years ago but the 28-year-old has struggled to play since because of injuries.

606: DEBATE

He's going to go down as the best player ever

 

 

wk

 

"He has changed quite a bit in the last three or four years," added Andrew. "He is much more relaxed about his own game.

"That is not to say that he does not still work as hard as he ever did but because of what he has been through in the last three or four years, I think he is much more at ease with himself and his game.

"He missed two against France and then the penalty he kicked from the left-hand touchline in the second half was a fantastic kick.

"If you are going to kick a penalty and drop-goal you might as well do it in the last five minutes."

Wilkinson himself played down his role in the dramatic win over France.

"To be honest, I seem to manage to fool people because every kick I miss, these guys get me another shot," Wilkinson told 5Live.

"With a bunch of guys like that you never feel disheartened when one doesn't go over because they just get back on with the business."

His England team-mates were happy to heap praise on the number 10, Mike Catt saying: "When the chips are down, the man stands up. It is just absolutely brilliant.

There was a non-match ball which got on to the field last night for one of those kicks which is why Jonny rejected it

 

 

Rob Andrew

 

"It is why he is who he is. The drop-goal was spot-on, just at a crucial time in the game. He's done it again, but this has been a massive team effort."

And flanker Lewis Moody said: "Jonny is a legend, isn't he? When the pressure mounts and when the real points are needed, he comes up with the goods."

Coach Brian Ashton added: "For him like for the rest of us it has been a bit of a rollercoaster - injured missing the first two games and then obviously his success rate kicking at goal has not been as high as it was.

"There may be all sorts of reasons that I know nothing about for that but he is still a very influential factor in our side.

"I suspect if you ask every one of the other 14 players individually what they thought about having Jonny Wilkinson in the side they would all be extremely positive.

"We do know that if we work hard as a team to get into the sort of positions we got into against France, he is the one man you would put your money on to put the ball in between the posts."

There has been a row about the quality of balls used at this World Cup and, during the game against France, Wilkinson swapped one he had been given to take a penalty.

"It was pretty straightforward," explained Andrew. "It wasn't a match ball. I've no idea how that came about.

"That's one of the things we wanted to get right because, although we didn't say it last week, there was a non-match ball that got on to the field in Marseille (against Australia) which Jonny actually kicked and wasn't happy with.

"He didn't really stop to think about it while he was doing it and then it was after that that we said 'we have to get this right'.

"There was a non-match ball which got on to the field last night for one of those kicks which is why Jonny rejected it."

^Suck on that, all you Aussies and Froggies!!:P

^

 

Good job, Brits! Really, that was a good match.

 

I knew France would lose soon, and I even thought they wouldn't defeat the Blacks.

 

Finally, I will be able to sleep when the night will come.:P

^

 

Good job, Brits! Really, that was a good match.

 

I knew France would lose soon, and I even thought they wouldn't defeat the Blacks.

 

Finally, I will be able to sleep when the night will come.:P

 

Well at least you're not a bad loser like those Aussies!!:P

And you didn't go out to a team like Fiji

France has lost but only some points less. :(

yuck sa in the final :cry:

South Africa set up England final

 

 

South Africa (24) 37

Tries: Du Preez, Habana 2, Rossouw

Cons: Montgomery 4

Pens: Montgomery 3

 

Argentina (6) 13

Tries: M Contepomi

Cons: F Contepomi

Pens: F Contepomi 2

 

 

England will face a World Cup final reunion with their pool conquerors South Africa after the Springboks ended Argentina's glorious run in the semis.

 

Tries from Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana and Danie Rossouw put the favourites into a 24-6 half-time lead.

 

The Pumas, for whom Felipe Contepomi landed two penalties, rallied with a converted try from his brother Manuel.

 

But Percy Montgomery, who kicked 17 points, landed two more penalties before Habana pounced again to seal it.

 

The jet-heeled winger intercepted a pass from Argentina's star fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez and raced 80m to score his eighth try of the tournament, overtaking the departed Wallaby wing Drew Mitchell's tally.

 

Habana will present the biggest attacking threat to England's hopes of becoming the first country to retain the Webb Ellis Trophy next Saturday at the Stade de France.

 

The Springboks crushed the reigning champions 36-0 at the same venue a month ago, but England's startling progress since that dark hour should ensure an enthralling finale to a scintillating World Cup.

 

Argentina, who have done so much to enliven the tournament, started full of vim and vigour, driving the Boks back in the scrum and winning the territorial battle through the booming boot of Hernandez.

 

But they found themselves behind in the seventh minute.

 

Left wing Horacio Agulla cantered up the touchline to set up a promising attacking position inside the Springboks half, but Felipe Contepomi's pass was intercepted by Du Preez, who sprinted 70m to score.

 

Montgomery converted, and the World Cup's top points-scorer landed a penalty to make it 10-3 after Contepomi had punished Springboks captain John Smit for obstructing Agustin Pichot off the ball.

 

Argentina continued to look the more threatening side, but a string of errors spoiled their better work, while Contepomi missed a further penalty opportunity.

 

But he did punish an ill-advised counter attack from Francois Steyn just before the half-hour, when the Springboks centre was penalised for holding on in the tackle, to make it 10-6.

 

Suddenly South Africa looked vulnerable, but the whole complexion of the game changed in the 10 minutes before the interval.

 

Schalk Burger started the process by ripping the ball away from Pumas number eight Gonzalo Longo, and the Springboks pounced on the turnover with alacrity.

 

Steyn, showing his better qualities, quickly spread the ball wide with a 40m pass, where Victor Matfield put Habana into space.

 

Sizing up the situation in a flash, the world's deadliest finisher chipped ahead past his opposite number Lucas Borges and four Pumas forwards.

 

Argentina's only hope was an unkindly bounce of the ball, but Habana swiftly gathered and streaked away to the line.

 

Montgomery converted and suddenly South Africa, from being under pressure, enjoyed the comfort of a 17-6 lead.

 

That became 24-6 with the final action of the half, and again Argentina had a hand in their own downfall.

 

The otherwise impressive Hernandez spilled a pass forward after Du Preez sent up a box-kick, and Steyn, Jaque Fourie and Burger combined to send number eight Rossouw over, Montgomery adding the extras.

 

That appeared to have settled the outcome, but Argentina rallied on the resumption and gave themselves a glimmer of hope with a try from Manuel Contepomi.

 

The centre appeared to have lost control of the ball over the line but after considering all the angles, English video referee Tony Spreadbury awarded the score.

 

Felipe Contepomi's conversion made it 24-13, and the Pumas briefly threatened to make a closer contest of it.

 

But Contepomi missed a penalty after 53 minutes, and that proved to be their last chance.

 

Habana had a try ruled out after JP Pietersen's pass was correctly ruled forward, but Montgomery landed the first of two clinching penalties in the 71st minute.

 

And with five minutes left, Habana showed his stunning speed again to put the issue beyond doubt.

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

South Africa: Montgomery; Pietersen, Fourie, Steyn, Habana; James, Du Preez; Du Randt, Smit (capt), Van der Linde, Botha, Matfield, Burger, Smith, Rossouw.

Replacements: B du Plessis, J du Plessis, Muller, Skinstad, Pienaar, Pretorius, Olivier.

 

Argentina: Corleto; Borges, M Contepomi, F Contepomi, Agulla; Hernandez, Pichot (capt); Roncero, Ledesma, Scelzo, CI Fernandez Lobbe, Albacete, Ostiglia, JM Fernandez Lobbe, Longo Elia.

Replacements: Basualdo, Hasan, Kairelis, Leguizamon, Fernandez Miranda, Todeschini, Tiesi.

 

Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7043379.stm

South Africa set up England final

 

South Africa set up England final

 

England will play South Africa in the World Cup final after the Springboks beat Argentina 37-13 in Sunday's semi-final.

at least Steve Walsh doesn't get to ref the final

at least Steve Walsh doesn't get to ref the final

 

Isn't he dead??:confused:

Not unless he died after the match...

 

anyway meant Chris White, the English ref who ran the line tonight and butted in whenever he got the chance.

The great ticket scrum: England's heroes spark rugby fever

 

By TOM KELLY and JAMES MILLS - More by this author » Last updated at 07:41am on 15th October 2007 Comments

It began while Jonny and the boys were still on the pitch celebrating their victory over France. And yesterday the scramble for World Cup final tickets was growing more desperate by the hour.

Tickets for England's clash with South Africa were changing hands for between £1,000 and £4,000 each - up to 13 times their face value.

With rugby fever sweeping the nation, one confident eBay seller put up his pair of tickets with an astonishing reserve price of £9,999. So far last night there had been no takers.

Scroll down for more

 

Winner: Jonny Wilkinson kicks a drop goal to seal dramatic victory

 

Read more...

• That's our boy: cheers from Jonny's girl (and his mum)
  
• England's rugby win scoops the ratings
  
• The £2m bonus that nobody expected England's rugby team to need

Disappointed French, Australian and New Zealand fans, who had expected to see their team in the final, are among those selling tickets.

They come in four official price categories - £75, £225, £250 and £500. Some are being hawked in the cafes and bars of Paris but the main trade is on the internet.

On eBay, some desperate fans were snapping up seats for as much as £4,000 each rather than risk missing out. Eric Baker, who runs the viagogo ticket website, said: "This is one of the hottest events in sporting history.

"The way that England made it to the final after being written off for dead when they were thrashed 36-0 by South Africa in the first game has captured everyone's imagination.

"And the fact that it's in Paris means that people can just hop on the Eurostar to get there. Only a football World Cup final or the reunion of the Beatles would be more sought after."

Rooms still available for Saturday night in the centre of Paris yesterday were being advertised at between four and ten times their usual rates.

The cheapest room at the fourstar Les Jardins Du Marais was £435. Many fans will be forced to secure rooms in one of the small satellite towns around the capital, where bargains could still be found yesterday.

Scroll down for more

 

Celebrations contined throughout the night while fans in England desperately tried to book transport for the final

 

 

Among those fortunate enough to be inside the Stade de France for the England-France clash was Prince Harry, who yesterday personally congratulated the England team on their 14-9 victory.

Harry wore an England shirt for Saturday night's game and shouted with joy and raised both arms to the sky as Wilkinson and his team overcame France to book a place in their second successive final.

The prince spent the night in the team hotel and yesterday met the players as they enjoyed a day off.

He chatted with Wilkinson for several minutes, asking him to talk him through the match-winning points he scored in the dying minutes of the clash.

One guest said: "He congratulated Jonny and wished him the best of luck for the final. He looked delighted to get to speak to him in person and say 'well done' for such a phenomenal performance."

Harry is expected to attend the final, as will Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister will be there as a guest of the Rugby Football Union. French president Nicolas Sarkozy had invited him to Saturday's semifinalbut he was unable to attend because of meetings at Chequers.

Scroll down for more

 

Prince Harry watches on anxiously as French are in the lead

 

Happy as Harry... the prince is ecstatic as he celebrates Englan's opening try in Saturday night's victory over France

 

 

Mr Brown, a Scot, said: "I want to congratulate Brian Ashton, Phil Vickery and the whole England rugby team on their fantastic achievement.

"This is a proud day for the country and I wish the team the best of luck for the final."

An estimated British TV audience of 12 million saw the match - a record for a sporting event this year. Some 40,000 England fans descended on Paris for the semi final, with many ticketless supporters forced to watch the match on a big screen set up in the Champ de Mars, near the Eiffel Tower.

Waving St George's crosses and with faces painted red and white, they outcheered French supporters in the square throughout the match.

Sir Peter Westmacott, the British Ambassador to France, said the travelling fans had been high-spirited but had behaved impeccably.

Daily Mail comment

 

When this World Cup began, the England team were written off as no-hopers. They were too old. They were burnt out. They might not even reach the knock-out stages.

How hollow those sneers now sound, with Jonny Wilkinson and his team mates just 80 minutes away from achieving what no other rugby nation has - retaining the World Cup.

They have got there through sheer effort of will, grit and bloody-mindedness.

In an age when sport is bedevilled by cynicism, their do-or-die spirit and pride in their country has been as refreshing as it has been inspirational.

Now let's pray they can do it one more time.

• Many supporters are managing to pick up bargains on the French version of the internet auction website eBay, as disappointed France fans off-load their tickets following their team's exit from the World Cup.

At the same time as a pair of tickets were sold for £3,200 on the British version of the site, a similar pair sold for just £1,522 on the French version.

All 80,000 seats in the Stade de France stadium have been sold out for many weeks, but last minute Ebay auctions are giving supporters a chance to see the game.

While some tickets are listed by professional touts, many belong to Australian, New Zealand and French fans who originally bought their tickets in anticipation of their team being in the final.

Jonny Wilkinson's agony: I can't sleep and feel like I have a permanent hangover

 

Last updated at 10:45am on 15th October 2007 Comments (5)

Jonny Wilkinson has revealed his inner turmoil and agony despite kicking England into the World Cup Final.

 

After scoring nine points - including a drop goal in the dying minutes - in Saturday's 14-9 semi-final defeat of France - Wilkinson has regained the hero status he took following the winning drop goal in the final four years ago.

But it has come at a cost.

Writing in his Times column, he says that he feels like he's suffering from the worst hangover he's ever had.

Scroll down for more...

 

Kicking king: Wilkinson launches his three-pointer

 

Read more...

• That's our boy: cheers from Jonny's girl (and his mum)
  
• The great ticket scrum: England's heroes spark rugby fever
  
• The £2m bonus that nobody expected England's rugby team to need
  
• Le Miserable... Caveman Chabal weeps for France
  
• England's rugby win scoops the ratings

The star describes his inability to switch off, sleep or enjoy the moment while only being able to relax with a guitar in his hands - at 5.30am.

Wilkinson wrote: "I got one hour's sleep on Saturday night and yesterday I felt again as if I had a rotten hangover.

"Late-night games are always like that for me: you get back late, you see family and friends, then you eat and then I like to go for a stroll, just to tire myself out to help me to sleep.

"When I did go to bed, I slept for about an hour but these grazes on my knees were burning and I couldn't have the bedsheets touching me, and I had a pain in my stomach and my back.

"And my mind won't stop racing. What's this week going to be like? What was last week like? What could I have done better in the game? I'm just wired. It's undoubtedly about the adrenalin you've cooked up through the previous day.

 

Counting the cost: Jonny Wilkinson

 

"I wonder if there is a medical reason for it, the toxins of anxiety and nerves, because the next day I feel hungover, regardless of how I sleep. I just wake up feeling sick. I lie in bed just feeling ill, sick in the stomach, my head aching."

Wilkinson added: "So at 5.30 yesterday morning, I realised it was a losing battle and went downstairs and sat in the team room with my DVD player and a guitar, messing around, a bit of Arctic Monkeys mainly.

"At about 6.30, the door opened and Lewis Moody strolled in. Exactly the same deal. It made me laugh to see Lewis because at dinner the night before, he had said that he struggles to sleep, too and his wife said that he always ends up going for a walk at about five o'clock.

"So there we were talking about how we feel after a game. Because after a game like that semi-final, you want to hold on to the feeling, you want to stay in the moment but, all too soon, you have to move on because the next game is coming.

"Maybe the only time you get to keep that feeling is after a successful final — but after the last final, I was just desperate to get back and carry on playing. I guess I was my own worst enemy then.

"That hangover. Maybe it is the kicking that contributes. Standing over that penalty with five minutes to go: that was nerve-racking. You can feel and see your shirt moving with your heartbeat. As much as people might think that that's your job and you don't look nervous, I tell you: it isn't like that.

"Yes, of course you are thinking: this could put us in the lead. Or: If I miss this, I've stuffed up big-style. The suggestion that you might not think that is a joke. And you are hearing all the noise, at every stage, setting the ball, going to the end of your run-up, finding your line, still you hear the noise.

"It was brilliant to put us farther ahead with the dropped goal, but that's different: you are on the move so there's less time for nerves and, believe me, that is a blessing.

"So my mind wanders back to Mike Catt and what he said to me in the dressing-room before the game. 'This is Jonny Wilkinson time,' I think were his words.

"I have a very good understanding with Catty, often we don't need too many words. When he said that to me, I knew exactly what he meant: that there are a few key things about semi-final and later-stage rugby, that it was going to be a tight game and it was going to have to be finished properly.

"He was saying: that's your accountability and responsibility, to ensure that we are the team with a couple more points than them.

"So I am proud that we did it and pleased to have done my job. But I've said this before: I am so proud of the entire squad. I remember, before we left, I was asked: 'Do you think you can do well in this tournament?' I gave a few reasons why I belived we could. And the comeback was: 'Are you not being a bit unrealistic?'

"That is the sort of thing we have had to deal with for a long time.

"So I'm proud that we have all dug in our heels and dragged that belief right out of ourselves. Even if it has left me feeling a little sick."

The star describes his inability to switch off, sleep or enjoy the moment while only being able to relax with a guitar in his hands - at 5.30am.

Great... wake the rest of the team up, good idea :rolleyes:

 

Anyway, an official Rugby Union World Cup feed has been added for the build up to the final, a bit late in the grand scheme of things but I've only just added the feature to Coldplaying. Here it is:

 

http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/abouttoday.php?do=rss&id=12

Rugby fever: Paris overflows with English fans

 

By TOM KELLY - More by this author » Last updated at 00:59am on 16th October 2007 Comments

England rugby fans joining the cross-Channel invasion for the World Cup Final this weekend have been warned: "Paris is full."

 

Almost all of the city's 75,000 hotel rooms are taken and anyone still hoping to book an overnight stay was told the bring a tent.

The only remaining accommodation is a campsite at the Bois de Boulogne five miles west of the city centre.

However, hundreds of ordinary Parisians are planning to throw open their spare rooms in a one-off bed and breakfast service despite their team having been vanquished by the 'Rosbifs' last weekend.

Scroll down for more

 

England's fans celebrate their team's victory at the end of the rugby union World Cup 2007 semi final match England vs.France at the Stade de France

 

 

Read more...

• Rugby World Cup: Racing a cheetah, the man England must stop
  
• Rugby World Cup: Inside the tortured mind of our hero Jonny Wilkinson
  
• Jonny Wilkinson's agony: I can't sleep and feel like I have a permanent hangover
  
• Gordon Brown to join England fans at Rugby final

 

Around 60,000 fans are expected to make the trip to France to cheer England on against South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday night.

The Paris Tourism Office said it expected many supporters to beat the accommodation problem by travelling on Saturday, spending all night out, and returning home early on Sunday.

A spokesman said: "It has been extraordinarily busy and almost every hotel room is already taken."

Travel to Paris has also become a major headache. Eurostar announced that almost all the 25,000 seats on trains to the city on Friday and Saturday are sold out.

The operator put on seven extra trains to try to cope with demand, but the additional places were snapped up within 48 hours.

A spokesman advised those travelling to Paris to take a Brussels train and change at Lille for a local service into the French capital.

"We expect it to be the busiest weekend in our 13-year history," he said.

"Not only are there thousands of England fans, there will also be a large number of South Africans living in London and making the trip out, so it should be quite an atmosphere on the trains."

Flights on low-budget airlines that can usually be snapped up for less than £100 are currently going for ten times that amount.

Nearly all direct flights to Paris this weekend are sold out, with only handful of heavilyinflated fares now available.

Flying on Friday, tickets are still available with Air France from London and Birmingham, costing £351 and £492 respectively.

From Manchester, a British Airways flight will cost £562.80, while from Liverpool, an easy-Jet flight will cost £405.

On Saturday, tickets are available with Flybe, leaving from Southampton and Birmingham, costing £459 and £537 respectively.

There are no return flights on Sunday with

BA to London or Birmingham and budget flights back to Newcastle, Bristol and Norwich on Sunday are also sold out.

For those who are desperate to make the trip and want a cheap fare, there is always the ferry. Cross-Channel journeys by foot and car are still available.

Fans still needing a ticket face paying up to £5,000 a head. That was the going rate for the best

seats on the internet ticket trading website Viagogo last night.

Eric Baker, the company's chief executive, said that prices began to soar as soon as the final whistle went after England's victory over France last Saturday. "It's the hottest ticket we have seen in years," he said.

Wiser fans were shopping on the French eBay site, where prices were considerably cheaper as local fans unloaded their tickets after seeing their side crash out.

Bidders on the Gallic version of the auction website were paying around £1,300 for top of the range seats.

The International Rugby Board said that there were no extra tickets available for the final. It warned supporters buying tickets online to be aware of forgeries.

A spokesman said: "Tickets are coded and will be checked by an electric scanner at the ground. Anyone with a false ticket will be refused entry."

One man who won't have to worry about the scramble for tickets is Gordon Brown.

Downing Street confirmed yesterday that Mr Brown, a Scot, will attend the final as a guest of the Rugby Football Union.

The Prime Minister joked at his No 10 press conference last week that once Scotland had been knocked out of the tournament, he had no trouble switching his allegiance.

He told reporters: "The one barrier to my support for England in the World Cup final has been removed by the unfortunate defeat of Scotland."

C'mon England!!!! woo!

C'mon England!!!! woo!