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England`s words from number ten

Gordon Brown congratulates an 'inspirational' Jonny Wilkinson

Prime Minister Gordon Brown believes the performance of the England team throughout the Rugby World Cup was an "inspiration" to his country.

Brian Ashton's men fell to a 15-6 final defeat at the hands of South Africa this evening to relinquish the Webb Ellis trophy they won in Australia four years ago.

It was a marked improvement on the 36-0 trouncing by the same opponents earlier in the tournament - a result which left few people backing England to make the latter stages of the competition.

"England's performance at this World Cup, and in the final against South Africa, was an inspiration to millions in our country," Prime Minister Brown said.

"Their victories against France (in the semi-finals) and Australia (in the quarter-finals) will live long in our memory, and the country is extremely proud of their extraordinary achievements over the past few weeks."

England's 2003 World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson insisted those involved in the 2007 near miss achieved "something amazing".

After England had failed a second time against the Springboks, Johnson insisted they deserved great credit for their efforts over the past six weeks.

"We have had a poor couple of years and have done something amazing to get here," he told ITV1.

"They are disappointed - and should be, because they had a chance. But we have done something very special here too."

Johnson unsurprisingly identified Mark Cueto's disallowed try at the start of the second half as critical.

"It was a crucial moment and it was just one of those things - millimetres, inches," he said.

"It was a key moment. Whatever, they have to bounce back. But we didn't score any points when six down, and Steyn's kick (to make it 15-6) was the key one.

"We gave it a go. We just weren't quite good enough to break through."

Shadow Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, hopes that, after the dust of tonight's defeat at Stade de France has settled, England's unexpected charge to the final can have a lasting impact on the country.

"It was massively disappointing but South Africa played extremely well and, to be honest, England surprised everyone by getting so far," he said.

"I only hope the RFU can use this to get more young people playing rugby and inspire a generation with the fighting qualities that England showed."