England beat Australia in the Rugby World Cup final 15 years ago this week, but they were not in such great shape when the Wallabies arrived at Twickenham 30 years ago. England’s form in the mid-1980s was dire. In the five editions of the Five Nations between 1983 and 1987 they won just five matches out of 20, even picking up the wooden spoon twice in that run. Their poor showing at the 1987 World Cup was perhaps the nadir, the point where things simply could not get any worse.
And then came the green shoots of recovery. Appointing Geoff Cooke as manager and Roger Uttley as coach improved their results in the 1988 Five Nations: they lost by a single point in Paris and won a tight game at Murrayfield, but really got the juices flowing with their second-half performance against Ireland at Twickenham.
After trailing 3-0 at half-time, England scored six tries in a stunning 35-3 turnaround, with Chris Oti bagging a hat-trick. It is said to be the game where Swing Low, Sweet Chariot was properly adopted as an anthem at Twickenham as the previously bored crowd – England had scored just two tries in their previous three matches at the ground – were swept away by the expansive rugby before their eyes.
Another piece of the jigsaw was put in place before the Australia match when Will Carling was appointed England captain. Aged just 22, Carling was the youngest man to take the role for 57 years. He was told the appointment would be long-term – until the 1991 World Cup – but could easily have been sceptical. Since Bill Beaumont’s retirement in 1982, the captaincy had been chucked about like, well, a rugby ball. The press were unconvinced, Tony Bodley writing in the Express: “Carling has been handed the captaincy for three years. But he’ll he lucky to keep the job for three months if he’s treated anything like recent skippers.”
Australia had won their last four matches against England – including two victories earlier in 1988 – but their patchy form on their European tour gave the hosts a glimmer of hope. Defeats to London (10-21), Northern Division (9-15) and South-West Division (10-26) were far from ideal preparation, although Australia had bounced back with victories over the Midland Division (25-18) and the England Students (36-13).
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England fielded three debutants at Twickenham – lock Paul Ackford, scrum-half Dewi Morris and winger Andrew Harriman – with Harriman the centre of attention. The Nigeria-born 24-year-old was labelled “the Playboy Prince” by the Mirror on the morning of the game due to his reportedly lavish lifestyle. His searing pace had already hurt Australia in their defeat to London and he was seen as the ideal replacement for the injured Oti.
Australia had not lost to England since 1982 and could call on a lot of experience. Only centre Brad Girvan was making his debut and the team led by Nick Farr-Jones had seven survivors from their 1984 Grand Slam tour of the British Isles.
England started the first half brightly but an Andrew Leeds try, converted by Lynagh, gave the visitors an early 6-3 lead. The gap was extended to six points when debutant Morris was caught offside and Lynagh kicked another penalty – although the debutant atoned for his error with a try that helped England level the score at 9-9 before half time.
The second half was a rollercoaster ride for England fans. An intercepted Webb pass allowed David Campese to run 70 yards and score for Australia, but the intense atmosphere of the success-starved crowd drove England on. Two Rory Underwood tries – the first an obvious candidate for the TMO today – gave England a 22-13 advantage before Australia narrowed the gap through a converted Grant try to put the home fans through a torturous finale. In the end, Simon Halliday’s first try for England sealed the deal. Webb tidied up the scoreline and England rejoiced, celebrating a memorable 28-19 victory.
The decisive score came at a cost, as Carling was wiped out a split second after releasing his fellow centre and had to leave the field – much to his disgust. The new skipper ended the day as dazed as the rest of us after a rare moment of excitement for English rugby in recent years.
Naturally, the press went into overdrive after the match. The Mirror chose the headline “Glory boys!” while the Express opted for “Brave England find the road to glory.” Underwood joined the chorus of approval, declaring them “the best England side I have played in during my five years in the team,” while Farr-Jones bigged up England’s chances in the future: “I believe Will Carling’s side will win the Five Nations. In fact, I can only see France posing any sort of threat.”
English rugby was now on the right path although there were a number of body blows along the way. England were denied the 1989 Five Nations title by a crushing 12-9 defeat in Cardiff on the final day of the championship. And, if that was not bad enough, they suffered even more the following year, when they lost to Scotland in their final match of the campaign and waved goodbye to the Calcutta Cup, triple crown, grand slam and championship. Carling’s men finally won the championship – and grand slam – in 1991, the year they made their first appearance in a World Cup final.
Losing that final to Australia at Twickenham was painful but, had you told Carling that three years after his debut as captain he would be leading the team out for a World Cup final at the same stadium, he would have snatched off your arm. The journey to that World Cup final could be traced back to the foundation stones put down in 1988: Cooke, Uttley, Carling, the second half against Ireland and the glorious win over Australia.
Of course, Australia ultimately had the last word in the grandest occasion of all, but that should take nothing away from the events of 5 November 1988. Before 1988, it was hard to feel anything other than pessimism about the England team. Yet now there was hope. That win 30 years ago was the start of something big, as the giant of English rugby finally began to stir.
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