It had been a hectic start to the day, I had woken up following a pre wedding family, best men and ushers dinner the night before which had involved the odd drink here or there.
We were staying at Rudding Park where the wedding breakfast / party was happening later that day. On the way to breakfast there was an air of anticipation and excitement, not just from myself but as I entered the lounge I was greeted by a room full of family& friends and a huge cheer erupted - no this wasn't for me but for the England Rugby Team who had just taken to the field - Yes it was 22nd November 2003 and the World Cup Final 2003 against Australia.
The National Anthem was played and we all stood up singing at the tops of our voices, moments later Jonny Wilkinson was there starting the match off. However, a few minutes later the jovial atmosphere had turned to silence as Australia scored a try (Tuqiri), the conversion was missed 5-0 Australia.
Moments later Jonny Wilkinson opened the score account with a penalty (Aus 5-3 Eng), shortly followed by another penalty (5-6 Eng). England the received another penalty and Wilkinson stepped up for his third penalty - over it sailed 5-9 England. After some fantastic play by the forwards the ball gets passed to Robinson TRY (5-14) first half over - but we weren't save yet still plenty of the game to go. The excitement is building we could actually win this - couldn't we!! I am brought back to reality by my best man passing me another pint of Guinness as I look across the room and remember the real reason why everyone is here - suddenly the nerves kick in..
The second half starts and things inevitably start going wrong, we give away a penalty 8-14 England, and then Jonny starts to miss drop goal attempts which would have sealed the match. It wasn't to be another penalty to Australia 11-14. On the 80th minute the score was favouring England still 11-14 then the whistle went penalty to Australia. 14-14 and extra time in the World Cup final (My pre wedding lunch at a local pub quickly gets cancelled - we will grab a sandwich on the way to the wedding)
Extra time starts all remains level - nerves are beginning to show 26 seconds to go the England forwards have a huge drive to put Jonny in front of the posts ready for a drop goal (lets put the last 2 misses out of our heads) he gets the ball and nails it between the uprights 17-20 England. England win the World Cup and I get to the church on time and have a fantastic wedding to my beautiful wife - You can imagine the celebrations that we had that night.
The best day of my life
Dominic Fraser-Smith
TheRetirementCentre.com
Memory added on October 22, 2012
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