Jonny's on top of the world

Wilkinson scored all his country's points yesterday as Brian Ashton's much-criticised team defied their critics by beating the highly rated Wallabies in their World Cup quarter-final here.

Fly-half Wilkinson's 12 points from four penalties made him the highest points scorer in Rugby World Cup history with 234, a mark he achieved when his second penalty beat the previous best of 227 set by Scotland's Gavin Hastings.

But as England march on to a semi-final in Paris next Saturday, Wilkinson was quick to identify the men he believed were the backbone of England's victory, hailing the effort of the forwards, exemplified by Simon Shaw and man-of-the-match Andrew Sheridan.

"They were absolutely immense," he said. "Their sheer desire was incredible.We had some big guys getting through a hell of a lot of work and that saved us. They fought fearlessly."

The statistics speak for themselves. The England pack lost no scrums, conceded no lineouts and were responsible for winning nine turnovers.

England captain Phil Vickery, a World Cup winner from four years ago,spoke with emotion about his team's achievement, particularly after they had been written off following their 36-0 defeat by South Africa in the pool stages.

"I'm struggling to find the right words," said the prop. "To win the World Cup is a huge thing, but to beat Australia after everything that's gone against us makes it ultra-special. I feel very privileged, not just to captain this team, but also to make a lot of people back home and in the stands here very happy. It is a great relief.

"There's been a lot of very agitated players in the squad over the past few weeks. Our success in 2003 was down to sheer grumpiness and a refusal to lose. I look at our team today and we have so many gifted players, but we also refused to bow out."

Head coach Brian Ashton dislikes singling out players for praise, but even he had to pay homage to his pack.

"To say the forwards' effort was magnificent is an understatement," he said.

"They won every area of their game. We knew they'd be strong in the scrummage and in lineout, but it was pleasing to see us winning the breakdown."

For Australia, another defeat by England is especially galling, having lost to them in the 1995 quarter-finals and again in the final four years ago.

"We never got momentum. England dismantled our breakdown and we lost our composure," said coach John Connolly, who stood down along with the retiring George Gregan and Stephen Larkham.

"England's scrum was world-class and I've said along that and having Wilkinson makes them very dangerous."