All Blacks embrace as they celebrate World Cup win

New Zealand's players embraced each other in a giant huddle as their fans partied in the stands at Twickenham after the All Blacks beat Australia to win the 2015 World Cup on Saturday.

It was a Halloween nightmare for Wallabies supporters as they watched Australia narrow the deficit from 18 points to four only to slide to a 34-17 defeat in the showpiece final.

It fell to Prince Harry, 31, the honorary president of the England 2015 organisers -- and fifth in line to become the monarch of both Australia and New Zealand -- to present the trophy.

The Webb Ellis Cup, standing 38 centimetres high and weighing 4.5 kilogrammes, is crafted from solid sterling silver and 24 carat gold plate.

Before kick-off, several rugby fanatics were drifting round outside the southwest London stadium desperately looking for spare tickets as the England 2015 tournament reached its climax.

One exhausted-looking woman from New Zealand had a sign saying she had flown 26 hours to be at the final, and now just needed a ticket.

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"I'm tense, I'm shaking," said Ian Harper, dressed from head to toe in Australian gold.

Some wore full Halloween skeleton costumes as they milled around in the autumn sunshine, an unusually warm 16 degrees Celsius (61 degrees Fahrenheit).

Among the 80,125 inside the packed stadium, Queen Elizabeth II's 94-year-old husband Prince Philip and Harry's brother Prince William, second in line to the throne, completed the royal contingent.

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue was also in the crowd, as was New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key.

Melbourne-born global media baron Rupert Murdoch turned up with Jerry Hall, the former partner of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, both wearing Australia scarves.

The teams ran onto the Twickenham pitch to a cacophony of noise as jets of flame shot up around the touchline, fireworks blasted into the sky and firecrackers exploded round the stadium roof.

There was a huge roar as the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows aerobatics display team flew overhead, streaming red, white and blue smoke through the air just as the teams lined up for the national anthems, the atmosphere reaching fever pitch.

Substitute Keven Mealamu led the All Blacks through the Kapa o Pango version of their Haka war dance, performed only at their biggest matches.

Five minutes after the kick-off, the England anthem "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" rang out round the stadium as England fans with tickets contemplated what might have been had their team not become the first World Cup hosts to be eliminated in the group stages.

As man-of-the-match Dan Carter's penalties kept the scoreboard ticking over, New Zealand finally prised open the Australia defence when wing Nehe Milner-Skudder crossed the tryline, just before half-time.

Carter converted to give New Zealand a 16-3 lead at the interval.

"It's looking comfortable," said Terry Dunleavy, 51, from Auckland, as he supped a half-time pint.

"We're dominating the ball and looking like our defence is holding up a lot stronger than the Australians expected.

"We're fitter, stronger and we're strangling them."

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Campbell, 34, from Melbourne, said: "The scoreline's reflected the possession.

"We shall never give up. But I came with low expectations and I shan't be disappointed."

Just two minutes into the second half, New Zealand centre Ma'a Nonu dashed through the Wallabies' defence for a second All Blacks try.

But Australia fans were revitalised when New Zealand's Ben Smith was sin-binned in the 57th minute and No 8 David Pocock immediately scored a try, with centre Tevita Kuridrani adding another 11 minutes later.

That racked up the tension, with New Zealand 21-17 ahead with 10 minutes left, but a Carter drop goal and a long-range penalty five minutes from time set the All Blacks on a clear path to victory.

And when replacement Beauden Barrett ran through to score a third try for New Zealand, it fell to Carter to convert and send All Blacks fans into raptures.

- AFP