Just win it!

He said: "I was with my wife in bed at the time and fortunately-I realised what they were actually referring to! I am sure there will be some good-natured banter tonight and I hope the locals give us a fair chance and a peaceful night. However, I don't think we are going to lose a cup final because somebody hasn't had a full night's sleep.

"I am pinching myself at the moment because to arrive at a World Cup Final and go into it with a full-strength side - there's no other player I would pick - is a fantastic position to be in. We are very clearly here to win the World Cup and we don't want to come second. If we do then we will be extremely disappointed.

"It's up to us to take this opportunity and we are very confident.

"We just want to win the game and go home. Every time we have trained there have been lots of supporters and it's very inspiring. We can't wait to get to the ground to see how many of the crowd are wearing white. We have signed the autographs and posed for the pictures with the fans at the hotel and we are proud to be playing our part in this special match."

Up to 40,000 England fans are expected to be in Sydney for the game although not all have tickets, which are changing hands on the black market at £400 each.

The call to harass England has come from Sydney newspaper-the Daily Telegraph, which claimed it was a patriot's duty to turn up at the hotel tonight armed with "bugles and drums at the ready" and printed the address. Yesterday they published a cut-out-and-keep Jonny Wilkinson voodoo doll.

There were accusations by the All Blacks after they lost to South Africa in the 1995 final that someone had spiked the team's tea and coffee and a number of players were ill on match day. England have their own chef with them.

Woodward said: "The chef has been fantastic and you can get paranoid about things. But, if somebody wants to get you then they are going to get you and having him with us is a no-brainer."

The players will receive £83,000 each from the Rugby Football Union's £2.25million prize pool if they win the cup.

The RFU are also preparing for a potential £15m-a-year windfall from a World Cup triumph.

Their income is projected to increase from the current £65m-a-year to £80m thanks to the increased bargaining power the title of "world champions" would bring. A number of major sponsorship and television deals are up for grabs in the next 18 months.