Australian centre Elton Flatley will be every bit as dangerous as England's goal-kicking wizard Jonny Wilkinson in today's World Cup final, England coach Clive Woodward said yesterday.
Wilkinson and his left boot have been the focus of attention after he kicked all England's points in their 24-7 semi-final defeat of France last Sunday.
But Woodward said Australia's Flatley had a superior success rate to Wilkinson, which meant both sides had to keep penalties to a minimum.
"Both camps know that if we do something illegal, we will get penalised and lose the game," he told a news conference.
"Everyone talks about Wilkinson's kicking ability, yet Flatley's got the highest success rate in this tournament. We want to be in low figures in terms of penalties and I'm sure the Wallabies want to be that way as well."
Flatley has kicked 17 penalties from 20 attempts for a success rate of 85 per cent, compared with Wilkinson's 76 per cent success rate after landing 19 penalties from 25 attempts.
Wilkinson and England do have a clear advantage in drop goals. Wilkinson has kicked seven drop goals so far in the tournament from 10 attempts, three of them against France.
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Australian captain George Gregan has landed the Wallabies' sole drop goal for the tournament, against Ireland in the quarter-finals.
With penalties important in what is likely to be a closely fought match, especially if the rain forecast for Sydney on Saturday arrives, the breakdown will become a crucial area of play for both teams.
Of equal importance will be South African referee Andre Watson's interpretation of that area, regardless of accusations in the Australian media that England's forwards routinely infringe at the breakdown by trying to slow down the ball.
Woodward said he had met Watson earlier this week and was happy that the final would be controlled by the world's best referee.
"We think we are fine at the contact area, we think the Wallabies are fine, and the bottom line is we have got the world's best referee watching us," he said.
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The possibility of rain has weighed on the minds of both coaches, especially after the England forwards were able to completely dominate France in wet and slippery conditions.
Woodward's counterpart Eddie Jones has repeatedly rejected criticism that England's approach to that game had been boring, saying they had played to the conditions and done it superbly.
Jones also said England had played expansively with the ball in hand the last time the two sides met, with England winning 25-14 in Melbourne in June.
"If it rains, great, if it's perfect conditions, even better from our point of view," he said.
Latest forecasts yesterday said showers were expected with temperatures during the day up to a relatively mild 20° C (68° F).
"Very clearly the game is about winning," Woodward said. "I think the preparation has been as good as it can get."
