Graphic: England kill time before Wilkinson’s drop-goal
That dropped goal - the one that won the World Cup four years ago in Sydney - was the product of necessity and training. This dropped goal – the one that on Saturday killed French hopes of reaching their own final – was born of slow, methodical approach work that both wound down the clock and gave England the hope of a decisive score.
When Jonny Wilkinson won the 2003 final against Australia it capped the most perfect piece of tactical play this old game may have seen. With the scores tied at 17-17 and no more than two minutes of extra time remaining, Martin Johnson called for “zigzag”, the move England had worked on in private and