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| November 18, 2003 | Tuesday | Ramazan 22, 1424 |
England favourites to beat Australia
SYDNEY, Nov 17: England have been installed as odds-on favourites to beat Australia in Saturday’s World Cup final after their 24-7 semifinal win over France.
The tournament’s official betting agency had listed the Wallabies as favourites after their 22-10 victory over the All Blacks on Saturday but changed their mind after watching England’s clinical disposal of the French.
The European champions are now 7-4 on to win the World
Cup for the first time with defending champions Australia at 22-20.
A spokesman for SportsOdds said the money had started rolling in for England because of the influence of their goalkicker Jonny Wilkinson, who scored all of his team’s 24 points against France.
“Our price assessors have taken into account England’s most recent performance against France, their last four wins against the Wallabies plus the Wilkinson factor,” Bill Anderson said in a statement.
“In their last five matches there has only been an average of just under six points difference between the teams. With only three tries scored in the 160 minutes of semifinal football on the weekend the accuracy of each team’s kickers will be of vital importance.
“English punters believe that Wilkinson will be the difference and the pounds have started to roll in to support them.”—Reuters
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