The chances are you were cheering on England to victory in the Rugby World Cup Final.
November 22, 2003 was the day that Martin Johnson lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy as England beat hosts Australia through Jonny Wilkinson’s dramatic drop goal to become World Champions.
Johnson was joined by Tigers teammates Neil Back, Martin Corry, Ben Kay, Lewis Moody, Dorian West and Julian White in the victorious squad while Sir Clive Woodward was the mastermind behind the campaign.
We asked some of your current Tigers favourites where they were 10 years ago and what they remember about the most famous day in England rugby history.
Louis Deacon was due to travel with his Leicester Tigers teammates to Millmoor for a Premiership clash with Rotherham Titans.
“We were travelling up to Rotherham that day and the World Cup Final was on in the morning before we left,” recalls Deacon.
“I live about 15 or 20 minutes from where we were meeting up and I left it to the very last moment before leaving. I think pretty much everyone was late because we stayed at home to watch it when it went into extra-time!
“The talk on the bus all the way up was about the Final. We weren’t thinking about our game at that point. I know we won at Rotherham (27-17) but I can’t tell you much about the game.
Deacon added: “The thing I remember about the final was that last lineout and the drop goal at the end. Lewis Moody winning the ball at the back, why would you throw the ball to him at the back to win it! It was a risky call but it worked.”
Not surprisingly, that lineout is also etched into the memory of Geoff Parling, who watched the game at Kingston Park with some fellow members of the Newcastle Falcons Academy.
Parling says the drill, with Steve Thompson throwing to the back where Moody collected possession, before Mike Catt, Matt Dawson and Johnson made ground for Wilkinson’s decisive kick, deserved to win the tournament.
“The lineout at the end of the game is what I remember,” says the Tigers, England and British Lions lock. “That’s pressure and it was a good drill, to throw to the back, off the top and then set up the position for the drop goal.
“It’s all about that last lineout. It was a good drill, executed well. They deserved to win it from that!”
Hooker Tom Youngs is another who appreciates that last set-piece. Youngs had driven his dad, former Tigers and England scrum-half Nick Young, down to the local pub in the tractor to watch the game.
“That is the most pressure you could experience,” he said. “It’s the pressure of the situation and everyone kind of forgets that, they just think about the drop goal.
“There were loads of things there, and loads of players involved, that went into that drop goal – the lineout, the ball-carrying, making sure that the rucks are cleaned, ball delivery.
“There were so many little things leading up to that drop goal which were so good, at that highly-pressurised point in a highly-pressurised game. They were in extra-time, moments away from possibly penalties. It just shows the accuracy, how well they knew each other and how well they were drilled to win it.”
For proud Australians like Julian Salvi, however, the taste of defeat was a bitter one to take.
“I was still at school,” says Salvi. “I remember watching the game on TV. I was a young pup then and that drop goal at the end hurt. You never like to see Australia lose at any stage, especially on home turf, in a World Cup Final and all that went with it.”
