THE Rugby Union World Cup final provided a very dramatic finish at the weekend and there were also dramatic scenes on our journey down to Brisbane Road as we tried to keep track of the result.

We were listening to the game on the radio but just at the crucial moment when Australia had their penalty kick to take the final into extra-time the radio went off.

Then there were frantic scenes on the bus as people rung family and friends to try to find out if they had kicked it and then it eventually filtered through that Jonny Wilkinson had scored the drop goal with only 20 seconds to go.

That gave us a good lift and the fans were in high spirits at the game and I am glad that they were still in high spirits at the end of the match when we came back to get a 2-2 draw.

We have not come back from 2-0 since I have been here and I think that speaks volumes of the character we are trying to build.

I think the biggest area that the rugby boys are advanced in in relation to footballers is the psychological side and that is something we are trying to instil into our players.

The England rugby players are so focused and know on and off the field what it takes to be champions.

They are the champions of the world and only a small percentage of sports people in the world can say that.

They have been crowned world champions and that's something that will stay with them for the rest of their years.

Sometimes you have to give up a great deal to reach the top and hopefully our youngsters can try to emulate their attitude and approach to sport and York City can reap the rewards before they maybe move on to bigger and better things.

Psychology is something we have started using this season. I wish we had a full-time psychologist but luckily Jerry Solvich has come in and given us his services free of charge for the good of York City.

We need people like that around because he can give us that little bit extra. It could be a very important extra one per cent that we can add.

I think he has started to get one or two players thinking about what they need to do to improve themselves.

Talk is also inevitably going to turn to whether England's footballers can match the achievements of the rugby players.

I think that on a game-to-game basis, we are a match for anybody but it's very difficult to go into a World Cup and European Championships and produce consistently good performances to win every game.

That is another thing that was so impressive about the rugby team. They had eight weeks in Australia and came in for some criticism in the earlier games.

Even Jonny Wilkinson had his doubters. I think he knew he would have his dips in form but he was always aware of his capabilities and he did it at the crucial moment.

Similarly, our fans were frustrated at going in 2-0 down at Orient on Saturday and, rightly so, there were one or two jeers, but I knew we had the belief to go out and get a result in the second half.

Updated: 09:19 Thursday, November 27, 2003