morning (or indeed, it's more or less noon in oz now isn't it?)cassie!
I can't wait for the final tomorrow. The English and the Aussies have two of the greatest sets of fans in the world so the atmosphere's going to be absolutely brilliant. I think England will pinch it....with a last minute Jonny Wilkinson, MBE, drop goal. Am I tempting fate? I hope not.
oh, and I thought I'd post this. from the beeb.
Fans set for final song-fare
By Bryan Palmer
BBC Sport in Sydney
English fans clear their throats
Five minutes into the first of the World Cup semi-finals, a familiar anthem echoed around Sydney's Telstra Stadium.
Lo and behold, the first strains of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' were already burning our ears.
But hang on a minute, this was Australia versus New Zealand. Was this a secret Kiwi tactic aimed at winding up their trans-Tasman rivals?
Or more likely, was it the pockets of England supporters warming up for the following day's tete-a-tete with France?
The gesture brought a suitably peeved response, and was promptly drowned out by a hail of boos and a retaliatory chorus of 'Waltzing Matilda'.
The same sequence is likely to be repeated many times over on Saturday, when the battle for supremacy in the stands will be just as fiercely contested as that on the pitch in the World Cup final.
Although Australia are hoping to reap the benefits of playing in front of a 'home' crowd, almost half of a capacity 83,500 audience are expected to be England fans.
And judging by their performance in the semi-final win over France, it will be a surprise if the 'Barmy Army' do not drown out the Wallabies' own support.
The tone will be set at the anthems, where the red rose supporters will be keen to put down a marker with first crack at 'God Save Our Queen'.
The green and gold will not have it all their own way at home
The green-and-gold masses will then try to raise the decibel levels with 'Advance Australia Fair', before no doubt lapsing into the first of many 'Waltzing Matildas'.
But the most interesting aspect of the fans' song-fare could be as each set try to out-do each other's own favourites.
The red-and-white ranks have promised to sing their own version of 'Waltzing Matilda', which they claim is better than their hosts.
Australian supporters have also been encouraged to come up with their own alternatives to the Poms' favourite dirge.
'Swing low, swing at Jonny, the Poms will have to carry him home', was one offering.
'So low, sweet charlatans, comin' fore to kick a field goal,' was another.
England fans, meanwhile, have been warming up by running through a specially-prepared 'Songs of Praise' songbook.
It features individual tributes to Martin Johnson, Neil Back, Jonny Wilkinson and (Here's to you) Jason Robinson.
Expect to hear a jaunty number too about about Australians living in a convict colony, to the tune of 'Yellow Submarine'.
Whichever team triumphs, a host of quintessentially Aussie or English tunes will be belted out over the Telstra Stadium public address system.
Last weekend the locals partied down to Men At Work's 'Down Under', while English fans danced and sang to 'Help', 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'Money Can't Buy Me Love'.
Should Jonny Wilkinson kick all the points in another English victory, the Barmy Army will surely be tempted to launch into their version of 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary'.
The ditty's chorus lines concludes with: 'It's a long way to the try-line, but England knows the way'.
Guaranteed to wind the Aussies up, that one.