England can look towards a bright future

Second in the world? Everyone from the two Princes to Gordon Brown to 007 could have told the team and young Lewis that they'd done their country proud - which, indeed, they had - but a champion's spirit cannot be consoled that way.

"To have got so close and ultimately not picked up the trophy was a real stab in the heart. It bloody hurts, mate," was Phil Vickery's touching summation.

On such weekends, where do the great sportsmen find consolation? For Hamilton, it came in knowing his genius surely has many years to annex the drivers' crown.

Yet for someone like Jason Robinson, who was close to crying as he trekked off at the Stade de France with a sprained shoulder while England's World Cup defence was foundering on a great green Springbok rock, there are no tomorrows. Yet Robinson found some comfort in feeling that he had been able to pass on the baton at this World Cup to a new generation. "I think they've come of age," he said of the younger players in the side like Toby Flood, Dan Hipkiss and Mathew Tait. "The future looks exciting."

This remarkable team, only finally halted by South African champions even more stubborn, pragmatic and hard headed than themselves, will forever be enshrined as the 'grumpy old men' who over-achieved.

Yet by the time the Springboks were wrapping up their 15-6 triumph, England had actually morphed, as coach Brian Ashton noted, into a great blend of the "experienced and the youthfully exuberant".

In the short term, that blend may become more potent because, apart from Robinson, Ashton smiles his other old soldiers just "seem to go on for ever".

Beyond that, though, English rugby needs fresh icons to accompany Jonny Wilkinson - and Tait can't help but fit that bill.

Eddie Jones, our old Aussie foe who helped Jake White mastermind England's downfall, reckoned that when he saw Robinson depart at full-back and the boy with the red shoes, dancing feet "and fantastic running ability" take his place, he could not see the join.

This had been a thumping collision of a final - "a proper Test match slugathon," as Jones put it - but in a desert of enterprise which didn't even allow Bryan Habana, last night crowned world player of the year, a sniff of attacking ball, its single outstanding moment, which led to Mark Cueto's disallowed try - was Tait's sinuous, weaving break through midfield.

If he'd gone over, it would have been English rugby's Michael Owen moment, the equivalent of that 1998 breakthrough when a kid ripped past the Argentina defence and scored in St Etienne. As it was, Tait was left desperately frustrated.

The 21-year-old just sighed about a "job half-finished". Both he and his Newcastle teammate Flood have the ideal attitude; second is nowhere for them.

"I can use a defeat like this to drive myself on," said Flood. "This final hurdle was one step too far but I want to be involved again and maybe next time we'll make the final and win. Yet the process of creating a winning side needs to start now."

Well, the base is there, from Andrew Sheridan and Matt Stevens at the front row coalface to the young speedsters like Paul Sackey, Tait and David Strettle at the back and Wilkinson, while urging "the younger guys to step up and take the game forward", confirming he's ready to pilot the team towards his fourth World Cup in 2011.

Wilko ran out of miracles on Saturday but when he revealed today that he'd been struggling so badly with an injured right ankle throughout the tournament, it only made the wonders he'd already worked here this past month seem even more incredible.

No wonder he decided to break a habit of a teetotal lifetime by going out for a drink with the lads on Saturday night.

They could not deserve it more, including-coach Ashton, who, from his comments yesterday, clearly wants to mould these fresh talents, taking them through to the 2011 Cup before retiring at 65.

Who, even among those who still carp in anonymity that England's success has come in spite of rather than because of his coaching, could now deny him the chance to create a team in his own image after having to play Red Adair for nine months?

Supporting him, the splendid Vickery is preaching unity and is not in the mood for any more hand-wringing over near-misses. "Let's stop knocking ourselves and saying how crap everything is in English rugby," he said. "We're not that bad, you know. Let's be proud of what we do, get behind each other and get ready for the next World Cup."

For his men have demonstrated perfectly how to be a winner even when you finish second; just like a certain Mr Hamilton.