Thrills, tries and scares on the road to the Final

ENGLAND 25pts S AFRICA 6pts
(October 18, Perth)
There was blood (shed by Neil Back), sweat (Clive Woodward's as Louis Koen missed four penalties) and tears as Will Greenwood scored the game's only try before returning to England, where his pregnant wife Caro was experiencing complications. Despite the result, England were often shaky in defence and lacked edge in attack. A new phrase was born: We can't play this badly again and keep winning.

ENGLAND 35pts SAMOA 22pts
(October 26, Melbourne)
England used to be accused of playing 10-man rugby. After this near-thing, make that 16. A - how shall we put it - misunderstanding led to Dan Luger going on as a replacement before Mike Tindall had left the field. There was also the small matter of England going 10-0 down in seven minutes and then trailing 22-20 before powering home in the last quarter.

ENGLAND 111pts URUGUAY 13pts
(November 2, Brisbane)
Seventeen tries, including two for Iain Balshaw before he went off on a stretcher and a recordequalling five for Lewsey highlighted a day when nine of England's 10 backs touched down, including Greenwood on his return from Britain. It was welcome relief after the Samoa scare but the injuries to Balshaw and Lewsey left England relying on Luger in the quarter-final.

ENGLAND 28pts WALES 17pts
(November 9, Brisbane)
The going got tough but the tough hardly got going, England staggering into the semi-finals thanks to Robinson putting Greenwood in and Jonny Wilkinson kicking 23 points. Down 10-3 at half-time, England were a different side after Mike Catt came on and shepherded Wilkinson through his stickiest game to date. At least Woodward looked like a tactical genius.

ENGLAND 24pts FRANCE 7pts
(November 16, Sydney)
Three drop goals, five penalties ... just another day at the office for Wilkinson. France scored the only try when a surprised Serge Betsen took a line-out ball and ran through an even more surprised defence. But as the rain came down and Hill's return confirmed what England had missed, France's 7-3 lead became a 12-7 half-time deficit and Bernard Laporte's side fell apart under the pressure.

AND NOW

Australia, who looked even less convincing than England until their victory over the Kiwis.