Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal and super over drama – previous England men’s finals

England have enjoyed mixed fortunes in recent major finals.

Pa Sport Staff
Friday 09 July 2021 07:00 EDT
England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003
England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 (PA Archive)

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England’s men ended a 55-year wait to reach a major football final with their extra-time victory over Denmark.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look England men’s teams that have played in finals in other sports.

Cricket

England have taken part in four of the 12 World Cup finals and won for the only time two years ago in a dramatic finish at Lord’s.

In 1979 they lost by 92 runs to West Indies at Lord’s, in 1987 they were beaten by seven runs by Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata and in 1992 they lost to Pakistan by 22 runs at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Finally, two years ago Eoin Morgan’s men beat New Zealand in a super over at Lord’s.

Rugby League

Great Britain reached five finals and won two of them but England have got there just twice, in 1995 and 2017, losing to Australia each time, at Wembley and in Brisbane respectively.

Rugby Union

England have been in four Rugby World Cup finals, which is the highest number of appearances alongside Australia and New Zealand.

In 1991 they lost 12-6 to Australia at Twickenham but gained their revenge in 2003 with a 20-17 extra-time win in Sydney thanks to Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal.

In 2007 England were beaten 15-6 by South Africa in Paris and two years ago lost 32-12 to the Springboks in Yokohama.

Golf

England have reached the final of the World Cup of Golf eight times, winning it just twice.

Bernard Hunt and Harry Weetman were the first England pair to reach the final in 1960 as they finished runners-up to the United States in Dublin.

In 1985 Howard Clark and Paul Way lost to Canada in California, while five years later Richard Boxall and Mark James were beaten by Germany in Orlando.

In 1998 Nick Faldo and David Carter gained victory over Italy in Auckland and in 2004 Paul Casey and Luke Donald triumphed over hosts Spain in Seville. A year earlier Casey and Justin Rose lost to South Africa at Kiawah Island while in 2005 Donald and David Howell lost to Wales’ pair Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge.

Ian Poulter and Justin Rose finished runners-up to the United States in China in 2012.

Snooker

England, represented by Fred Davis, John Spencer and Graham Miles were runners-up to Wales in the inaugural World Challenge Cup in Birmingham in 1979.

Two years later it became the World Team Classic and the England team of Steve Davis, John Spencer and David Taylor triumphed over the Welsh trio in Reading.

England relinquished the title to Canada in 1982 but won it back 12 months later when Steve Davis, Tony Knowles and Tony Meo got the better of Wales.

The same trio reached the final of the re-named World Team Cup in 1985 but lost to Ireland in Bournemouth.

Davis then teamed up with Jimmy White and Neal Foulds to win back-to-back finals in 1988 and 1989 against Australia and the Rest of the World.

The World Team Cup went into hibernation from 1996 to 2011 and, on its re-emergence as a two-man event, Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins reached the final in 2017, losing to China.

Darts

Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis guided England to World Cup success in four of the first six tournaments.

They were 4-3 winners over Australia in 2012, retained it with a 3-1 win over Belgium and, after losing 3-0 to the Netherlands’ Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld in 2014, won it back the following year by defeating Scotland 3-2.

Then, in 2016, they got their revenge over the Dutch pair with a  3-2 success. All five tournaments were held in Germany.

Squash

After competing as Great Britain in the World Team Squash Championships from 1967 to 1979, England went their own way in 1983 and reached the final in Auckland, where they lost to Pakistan.

England were runners-up again in 1991 in Helsinki but won it back to back in 1995 and 1977 with victories over Pakistan and Canada and repeated the feat a decade later with wins over Egypt and Australia.

England have met Egypt in each of the last four finals, winning just once, in 2013 in France.

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