IT was brave, it certainly wasn't beautiful, but it was a brilliantly defiant attempt to defend the World Cup against all expectations.

England came into the tournament as possibly the worst team to ever hold the tag of world champions and they remained consistent during a dire set of pool stage performances.

During the past four years, the side coached by Andy Robinson and then Brian Ashton had been, to put it mildly, pretty much awful.

But, confounding the critics - there were many of them - the England team battled to preserve their crown as only they could.

The holders woke up in the quarter-finals with not so much a bang as an explosion.

An explosion of power and pragmatism, two of English rugby's greatest weapons.

Reverting to the tried and tested - grind it up with a brutally efficient pack and let Jonny kick the points - appeared to be doing the trick.

The tactic was slated in some quarters but it was always going to prove a masterstroke against the Aussies, whose pack wouldn't have looked out of place playing amateur rugby, particularly their woefully weak front row.

If the demolition of Australia's hopes was a sight for sore eyes, then the beating of hosts France in their own back yard was icing on the cake, as England marched on to an improbable second consecutive final.

The Aussies had all the talk, the French had home advantage and the arrogant All Blacks still had the audacity to call themselves the best team on the planet - but none of them made it to Saturday's showpiece.

Surely England couldn't complete the fairytale. Surely they couldn't overcome a team with the best lineout, the best back row and the leading try scorer.

They couldn't. As was feared, it proved a game too far for the old warriors. The greatest turnaround in sporting history was not to be. And, in a way, justice was done.

While England's battle-hardened defence kept Habana and co quiet, it was Percy Montgomery and his relentlessly strong pack that won the day.

Apparently the fullback was susceptible if you ruffled his blond locks and pelted him with high balls - what rubbish.

He rammed the critics' words down their throats with another faultless display behind a set of forwards that provided him with a perfect pedestal from which to show off his talents.

The combination of John Smit and the brilliant Victor Matfield at the lineout was simply too good for England. Phil Vickery's courageous troops gave their all but were beaten at their own game as Matfield won his ball and stole England's to leave the holders chasing the game.

When England tried to turn the screw, the South African's refused to wilt under the sort of pressure that saw Australia wave the white flag.

People will talk about the try that never was and the missed drop goals but, to put it simply, South Africa were the best team throughout the tournament and deserved to claim the trophy.

From England's point of view, this World Cup campaign has certainly not been just another sporting failure. It should be seen as a miracle that England made it to the final at all after such a dismal start.

All that was left to do at the final whistle was for true giants of the game like Jonny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio and the retiring Jason Robinson to swallow an unfamiliar pill.

And after such immense careers built on winning and success, defeat must have left a sour taste.

The fact that England were brave, passionate and defiant to the last will come as little consolation to the much-celebrated trio or their heroic, inspirational, battle-scarred team-mates.