Gerry Thornley in Sydney

So then, the, eh, dream final. In a neat sense of symmetry in the scarcely changing landscape of world rugby, England will play Australia in a repeat of the 1991 decider at Twickenham at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney next Saturday to decide the champions of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Bragging rights rarely come bigger.

There'll be an almighty scrap for tickets, there might even be a few scraps in the street such is the increasing antipathy between the ever-growing number of supporters of both countries; there'll be a week of Pom-bashing and then there'll be a match. It will, as the England manager/coach, Clive Woodward, is wont to say, be massively full-on.

But, just as repeated renditions of Waltzing Matilda or Swing Low, Sweet Chariot are unlikely to make it the vocal occasion of the year, after watching Jonny Wilkinson's boots land all of England's points in their 24-7 semi-final win over France yesterday, it might not be a try-feast either.

Drenched by the storm which descended three hours before kick-off and which hardly relented, rarely has a foreign field become such a little corner of England as the Olympic Village and Telstra Stadium did yesterday - or, for that matter, Sydney itself. Such were the vast swathes of white that it seemed there must have been as many as 40-50,000 of them in the 82,346 crowd.

In an atmosphere more like a football match, you scarcely heard a French cheer all night, just boos from the neutrals and the Australians (they hardly count as neutrals when the Poms are playing) when Serge Betsen was sin-binned in the second half for a late tackle on Wilkinson - England's most cherished rugby son and the prized scalp of others.

The previous night, the sizeable English contingent at the Australia-New Zealand semi-final had their three attempts at Swing Low drowned out by boos. But it was enough to intensify the ill-will, which is in part a remnant from the Barmy Army-dominated Lions tour here two years ago.

Perhaps in an attempt to dampen any excessive jingoism this week, Woodward has been love-bombing the locals. His declaration that Australia would beat New Zealand in Saturday's semi-final looks more clever than ever.

Asked about the inevitable week of Pom-bashing, Woodward responded: "It's just positive feedback," he said, using his new buzz phrase.

"It's all media stuff. It's going to be a great week. Whatever is said in the media you can't control that. I lived for five years here, I love this country and you get used to it. It's just good-humoured banter and we've just got to handle it.

"It should be a good week and I'm looking forward to it. The game is not going to be won in the media. The game is won by this lot at 8 p.m. (local time, 9 a.m. Irish) next Saturday."

Tellingly, such was the sense of the Wallabies having scaled new heights this year that they felt inclined to conduct a lap of honour to the sound of Men At Work after beating their rivals from across the Tasman. England had no such inclination.

"Maybe we're a bit more tired than they were," quipped Woodward, having repeatedly acclaimed an excellent, all-round team performance. Maybe the rain, too, had something to do with it. More pertinently perhaps, as Woodward also conceded: "The job is far from done. We came here to win the World Cup, and we'll be very disappointed if we don't."

Proud of "a magnificent performance", Woodward bridled at the suggestion that the conditions suited his team more. "I've been on holidays to France plenty of times and it often rains there."

He ventured that they would have won in any conditions, and such was the convincing nature of this victory few could disagree. It was just that, as a spectacle, one of the biggest showpiece games in four years was ruined.

Both the French captain, Fabien Galthie, and coach, Bernard Laporte, bemoaned the conditions as unsuited to the wide, running game they wanted to play, but both were at pains to avoid making this an excuse and lauded the brilliance of England's performance. "We made lots of little mistakes, always under pressure," admitted Galthie.

Laporte conceded that France needed to learn how to play with more flexibility depending on the conditions, and, in his charmingly broken English, all gestures and shrugs, Galthie said: "Our forwards are not as heavy as the English side. It is better for us to play with a dry ball, to make long passes and play with the width of the pitch. We tried, but it was difficult. But to play rugby you have to be prepared to play with the sun and the rain and the wind. C'est le rugby."

Unless he appears in the third-place play-off against New Zealand on Thursday, this defeat will mark the last game for one of France's greatest, if belatedly appreciated, warriors. It is not how he would have wanted it.

"It was great to have one last adventure. Obviously we all wanted the adventure to continue and we all had our dreams. But what will be, will be.

"It's always difficult to finish without reaching your objective. It's not very easy to live this experience. But this is sport. It's okay."

At the end of a phlegmatic French press conference, Laporte reminded us that Galthie had played in four World Cups. "He has been France's greatest ever scrumhalf, his impact on the game has been enormous and I think he deserves an ovation." Dutifully, we provided just that, but with the utmost respect. Galthie sheepishly bowed. What a player. What a career.

Woodward also closed his press conference by revealing that the longest and loudest cheer in the England dressing-room was for Jason Leonard on becoming the world's most capped player when making his 112th appearance for England as a 79th-minute replacement. He hoped Leonard's achievement would be given due coverage.

Just to rub French noses in it, he had eclipsed Philippe Sella.