The 20th anniversary of England’s famous victory over Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup has given rise to many stories.

Fans of all nations will, of course, remember Jonny Wilkinson’s spectacular late goal in Sydney, which sealed glory for Clive Woodward’s side against the Wallabies in a 20-17 extra-time victory. But that was just the start of the night, as Prince Harry joined the players in wild celebrations.

The prince followed the team around Australia throughout the tournament and was present at the opening party at the city’s famous Wharf bar, where he also introduced his cousin Zara Phillips to English center Mike Tindall at the start of the World Cup. Harry was also in the England dressing room immediately after the match, having seen him, Woodward’s wife and daughter.

The festivities moved to the Cargo Club in Darling Harbor, where Harry, wearing a ‘Barmy Army’ t-shirt, and Laurence Dallaglio played bongos together as the alcohol flowed before having to help the young prince return home.

The Daily Mail reported: “The young royal was wearing a Barmy Army T-shirt and was also clearly in bad shape, which is not surprising in the circumstances, amid so much English euphoria. The man providing life support to the unstable Prince looked at the photographer and said, “You’re not going to take that photo, are you?” Surprisingly, his firm appeal worked; “The camera remained down and the moment was not captured.”



Prince Harry (second right) celebrates with the England team.

The players celebrated until the early hours of Sunday and even after realizing the magnitude of the achievement.

Even more spectacular scenes awaited them at Heathrow and at the Victory Parade in central London, as English sport was bathed in the glow of Woodward’s golden generation.

“We all said to ourselves before the game that we had to enjoy it, take it all in and remember, because you probably wouldn’t come back,” captain Martin Johnson recalled as around 500 English fans packed the seafront outside Manly, England. beach hotel the day after the final.

“We were traveling by bus when we came back from the game. It was around 1:30-1:45 pm, it was raining, it was very dark and quiet and we had no idea what was going on at home.

“One similarity between Leicester and Sydney is that you couldn’t get a taxi at five in the morning and it was raining! So I had to go back from where we were staying to my wife’s hotel. About an hour.”

Third Generation star Jason Robinson didn’t join the party, saying, “I didn’t leave. It was very wild for me. Either way, it was ridiculously late. If I had gone with the boys, they probably wouldn’t have seen me again. Jason Leonard – The Fun Bus – and Mike Tindall would destroy me. I lived to tell the tale.”