Jonny Wilkinson
Jonathan Peter Wilkinson is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and French side Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the winning drop goal in the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final and is widely acknowledged as one of the best rugby union players of all time.
He played club rugby for twelve seasons in the English Premiership with Newcastle Falcons. In 2009, he moved to Toulon, where he won two Heineken Cups and one Top 14 championship in five seasons. He holds the record of top point-scorer at both clubs.
Wilkinson won 91 caps for England. He was an integral member of the England squad which won the 2003 World Cup, scoring the winning drop goal in the last minute of extra time against Australia in the final. He came back from several injuries and was part of the England team which reached the final of the 2007 World Cup. He toured twice with the British & Irish Lions, in 2001 to Australia and 2005 to New Zealand, winning 6 caps.
He retired from rugby at the end of the 2013–14 season. In 2016, he was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Wilkinson is currently a studio pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations Championship, Rugby World Cup and other rugby events.
Early life
Wilkinson was born on 25 May 1979 at Frimley Park Hospital in Frimley, Surrey and grew up in Farnham. He attended Pierrepont School, Frensham and Lord Wandsworth College near Hook, Hampshire, and played at youth level for Farnham Rugby Club.He gained a place at the University of Durham, but gave his place up in 1997 to become a professional rugby union player with the Newcastle Falcons.
Career
1998–2000
Wilkinson started his career at Newcastle School of Rugby as an inside centre, competing for a place with international veterans such as Inga Tuigamala, and Lion Alan Tait. He became a fixture in a side that went on to win the 1997-98 Allied Dunbar Premiership title. By March 1998 he was in the full England Test squad. Wilkinson began his international career as an unused replacement against Scotland, before coming off the bench, replacing Mike Catt, to play on the wing against Ireland at Twickenham on 4 April 1998; he was only 18.He then participated in England's "Tour of Hell" in June 1998 that saw them suffer heavy defeats to both New Zealand and Australia. Wilkinson returned to domestic duties by taking over from Rob Andrew, who was made Falcons head coach, as both their fly-half and goal kicker. Wilkinson became a fixture in the England team, and started in all their matches in the 1999 Five Nations Championship. He played for the Falcons in their 1999 Tetley's Bitter Cup final defeat to London Wasps.
Wilkinson played for England in matches against Australia, the United States and Canada as the 1999 Rugby World Cup approached. He made his Rugby World Cup debut against Italy, scoring one try, converting another six and landing five penalty goals to rack up 32 individual points in the 67–7 win. After playing another pool game against the All Blacks, which England lost 30–16, he was rested against Tonga, a match won by England 101–10. Following the quarter-final playoff win against Fiji, Wilkinson was relegated to the bench for the quarter-final against South Africa. England lost the match by 44–21 and exited the tournament. Clive Woodward refused to expand on his selection choice at the time, and following the match some commentators blamed the head coach's lack of consistency in team selection as harming England's World Cup bid.
The following year Wilkinson played in all five of England's 2000 Six Nations Championship matches. England won the championship, however they missed a Grand Slam after losing their final match against Scotland. Wilkinson then toured South Africa with England in June 2000, kicking all of the points in their 27–22 win in Bloemfontein. He was then capped another three times for England during the end of year internationals.
2001–2002
In 2001, England again won the Six Nations Championship. After the opening win over Wales, Wilkinson set an individual Six Nations Championship points scoring record with 35 points against Italy at Twickenham on 17 February, to overtake the record of his Newcastle Falcons mentor, Rob Andrew. England won all their subsequent matches during the tournament, with the exception of the Irish match, which was postponed until October.More success followed for Wilkinson after the Six Nations, as the Falcons won the Powergen Cup: a late Newcastle try saw them defeat Harlequins by three points, by 30–27. As a result of Neil Jenkins suffering a number of injuries and a dip in form, Wilkinson was picked as the first choice fly-half and goal kicker for the 2001 British Lions tour to Australia in July. The Lions won the first test over Australia by 29–13 in Brisbane, in which Wilkinson scored nine points through his kicking.
The second test, on 7 July, saw the Lions lose 35–14 at the Docklands Stadium. Wilkinson was blamed by many for throwing a long pass inside his 22 that was intercepted by Joe Roff: this was seen as the turning point in the match, and probably the test series. During the match, Wilkinson injured his leg and was stretchered off the pitch. The injury was thought to be particularly serious, but he made a full recovery before the Third and final test on 14 July. Wilkinson's try at the start of the second half ensured that, along with his kicking scores, he equalled the Lions' best individual scoring total in a Test, with 18 points.
The incomplete 2001 Six Nations Championship was concluded in October, with England playing Ireland. England lost 20–14 at Lansdowne Road. Both Ireland and England had won four out of the five Six Nations fixtures, but England's superior points difference ensured they clinched the title although, for the second year running, not the Grand Slam. In a match against Australia for the Cook Cup in November, Wilkinson scored all of England's points in their 21–15 victory at Twickenham. After being rested as an unused bench replacement in the subsequent match against Romania, he then played a large role in a win over the Springboks, in which he kicked seven penalty goals in the 29–9 victory. Going for a third Six Nations title in a row, England got off to a good start in their 2002 Six Nations Championship with wins over Scotland and Ireland, before losing to France at the Stade de France. England won their remaining fixtures against Wales and Italy but France went on to complete a Grand Slam. The Falcons were in Pool 6 in the 2001–02 Heineken Cup, and won one match, finishing fourth in the pool.
In the November 2002 end-of-year tests England faced Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in subsequent weekends. Wilkinson played a large role in England's win over the All Blacks. He scored a try, and kicked two conversions and three penalty goals, as well as a drop goal. England then faced the 2002 Tri Nations Series champions Australia, who came to Twickenham on the back of a loss to Ireland. Two tries by winger Ben Cohen and Wilkinson's kicking accuracy saw England come back from a 19–31 deficit to defeat Australia by a single point in a 32–31 victory. England went into the last test against South Africa with the possibility of beating the Big Three rugby nations of the Southern Hemisphere on subsequent weekends, and defeated the Springboks by 53–3. Springbok Jannes Labuschagne was red-carded after 23 minutes for a late tackle on Wilkinson. The very physical match later saw Wilkinson leave the pitch with a dislocated left shoulder. The England camp believed that Wilkinson was targeted by South Africa during the game. His half-back partner Matt Dawson, who had also been forced off that match with an injury after being rammed by a Springbok player, later wrote in his autobiography Nine Lives that he felt South Africa had started out the match with the intent of injuring England players.
2003 Six Nations and victory at the World Cup
The opening match of the 2003 Six Nations Championship saw France, the reigning champions and Grand Slam winners, play England. Both teams were high in confidence, following successes in their end of year tests against nations from the Southern hemisphere. Many saw this game as the tournament decider and England won the match 25–17. Now considered favourites to win the tournament, as well as a Grand Slam, England defeated Wales, Italy and Scotland. For the game against Italy, Wilkinson was chosen as the captain of the squad for the first time in his England career, as Martin Johnson was unavailable due to the birth of his first child. The final match was against Ireland at Lansdowne Road and would determine the tournament, and Grand Slam winner of 2003. By winning 42–6, England became the 2003 champions and serious contenders for the upcoming 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Wilkinson was named Man of the Match.After the Six Nations, England commenced a tour to the Southern Hemisphere, to play New Zealand and Australia in June. On 14 June and in difficult weather conditions, Wilkinson scored all 15 points as England beat New Zealand 15–13 in Wellington. He was also a major force in their 25–14 win over Australia a week later, which was their first ever victory on Australian soil. With England's 45–14 win over France in September, in which Wilkinson scored 18 points, England were now considered one of the favourites at the World Cup, set to start in October. Wilkinson was the youngest member of England's World Cup squad.
England's first match at the 2003 World Cup was at Subiaco Oval in Perth, where they defeated Georgia 84–6, with Wilkinson scoring 16 points from his goal kicking. He played a major role in the pool match against the Springboks, in which he scored 20 of England's 25 points, in the victory which held their opponents to just six. The subsequent match against Samoa in Melbourne was surprisingly close for the number-one-ranked rugby nation against a supposed "minnow" of international competition, but England pulled off a 35–22 win. Wilkinson was rested for England's final win against Uruguay. England finished at the top of Pool D, four points ahead of South Africa.
England moved into the quarter finals, where they met Wales at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Aided by the arrival of Catt at half-time, Wilkinson went on to score 23 points in the match, which England won 28–17 to proceed to the semi-finals. England met France, whom they had beaten earlier that year on two occasions. England won 24–7, with Wilkinson scoring all of England's points through his kicking. In the final versus Australia, with the scores level at 17–17, Wilkinson received a pass and kicked a drop goal in extra time with just 26 seconds remaining; England won 20–17. The last time Australia had lost a World Cup match was eight years earlier in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, when Wilkinson's mentor Rob Andrew scored a drop goal at the stroke of full-time to win the game for England. After the match, Wilkinson expressed his relief at converting the winning drop goal, as it was his first success in four attempts during the match. The win gave England its first Rugby World Cup, and broke the Southern Hemisphere's dominance of the tournament. Wilkinson became the tournament's leading points scorer with 113 points. He was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and also named the 2003 IRB International Player of the Year.