Evening Press Deputy News Editor Andrew Hitchon samples the World Cup atmosphere down under...

So it's the big one. England v Australia for the rugby union World Cup final, the one few expected and yet the one everyone wanted.

Let me remind you, when the pundits were asked who they expected to be in the final nearly all said France v the All Blacks.

Only Jason Little, the great Wallaby centre, said it could be England-Australia in the final - two surprise results, he said.

How right he was.

The two nights were very different. First the Wallabies beat the All Blacks, riding on a wave of emotion, fuelled (partly) by a huge crowd of English supporters screaming "Wallabies, Wallabies," then Waltzing Matilda.

Well, it happened, thanks to a huge interception try by Stirling Mortlock, plus some pretty neat goal kicking and a massive crowd.

The next night, well, they (the Aussies) will tell you it was boring, but the conditions were quite dreadful, with this observer literally unable to see what was going on.

But that square little figure of Johnny Wilkinson kept stepping up and making things all right despite a pretty dodgy try by the exceptional Serge Betsen (whose sending off was very unfortunate).

Strangely, it was less tense than the night before. It's potentially a bad thing to say, but we have got to a point with England where we expect to win, and that confidence crept through into the crowd.

We deserved it too - even from the far seats the scrummaging was startling.

Afterwards Sydney was awash with England supporters, almost overcome with emotion. Some Gloucester fans, telling me afterwards, went on until 5am, and got chucked out of a pub for fighting.

A French woman, on the train back to Sydney Central, said: "Now you must beat them,"

Well, we'll do our best, but it almost seems inhospitable.

The Aussies have proved the most brilliant hosts possible, the whole country has for the time being become rugby union crazy.

Even down in Tasmania, big Aussie Rules country, they turned up to watch a fairly low grade match, strictly for curiosity, my cousin's husband (a former Aussie Rules player) told me.

Saturday will be the biggest night of the lot. It almost seems a fix, but England are desperate to avenge 1991. And the Aussies are desperate to win again.

Updated: 11:06 Friday, November 21, 2003