2003 Rugby World Cup Final - Post-final

Post-final

The English squad arrived at London's Heathrow Airport to a huge reception of English fans. Captain Martin Johnson, holding the World Cup trophy was the first player to appear, which resulted in a celebration of singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Scrum-half Matt Dawson described the reception as "mind blowing" and hooker Steve Thompson said that "Walking through Heathrow was breathtaking".

A national day of celebration was held on Monday, 8 December for the English rugby team. Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the streets of London to pay tribute to the World Cup victory. The English team waited at the Marble Arch, until the Mayor of Westminster cut a red ribbon to signify the start of the parade. The two open-buses started to make their way down Oxford St, accompanied by numerous police (Scotland Yard estimated 500 were to be used for the parade). The players were all dressed in grey suits with blue shirts and red ties, and some had video cameras and cameras, as they took turns holding the trophy as the bus rolled through the ticker-tape parade and amidst thousands of white balloons and streets at a stand-still, with people even hanging off lamp posts and traffic lights to get a look at the team. Jason Leonard said to reporters on board that "We've got the best fans in the world".

The buses then turned down Regents St and thousands of fans started to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot as the buses made their way onto Piccadilly Circus. The buses then made their way through Haymarket and onwards toward Trafalgar Square where hundreds of thousands of people were waiting. As the buses became visible from Trafalgar Square, the crowd started to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot as the squad approached. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London then awarded the whole squad the freedom of London. The English squad then went on to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace, followed by a reception at Downing Street with then Prime Minister Tony Blair.