I don’t think I will ever forget where I was on 22nd November 2003 when Jonny Wilkinson dropped the goal that won England the Rugby World Cup.
I was standing on a bin at the back of Rootes Bar at the University of Warwick. Come to think of it, I can’t remember ever standing on a bin before or since but that isn’t why the moment sticks in the mind.
I had watched every match of the World Cup until that point at my then girlfriend’s house near Coventry but needed to be at university to meet for a hockey match. I knew if the match didn’t go to extra time I would be okay but once the scores were level after 80 minutes, I had a decision to make.
There was no question of waiting until the game had finished as we had to leave at that point. So as soon as normal time finished, I left the house, waited for a bus, travelled to university and raced up the stairs to the already rammed bar for the final 10 minutes or so.
The spontaneous, collective outburst of joy when the final whistle went was a wonderful moment that illustrated sport’s power to transcend boundaries. Whoever you were standing next to, you were hugging them and jumping around. Or jumping down, in my case, from atop the bin.
We travelled to our hockey game, and eventually lost. Not that any of us really cared. In the changing rooms afterwards I said, “We lost a game of hockey today, Australia have lost the World Cup.”
But it was only when listening to Sir Clive Woodward reliving his memories of the final yesterday on BBC Radio 5 Live that it struck me that missing the first half of extra time means that I have never actually watched the whole game – something I will put right as soon as I can.