Jonny Wilkinson

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Jonny Wilkinson
The cover of his autobiography.
Full name	Jonathan Peter Wilkinson
Date of birth	1979-05-25
Place of birth	Frimley, Surrey
Height	1.78 m
Weight	85 kg
Nickname	Wilko
Rugby union career
Position	Fly-half
Professional clubs		Caps	(points)
1997-	Newcastle Falcons	113	(1395)
correct as of 12 August, 2006.
National team(s)
1998-	England	52	(817)
correct as of 12 August, 2006.
Other Information
Occupation	Professional rugby union footballer
School  attended	Lord Wandsworth College

Jonathan Peter "Jonny" Wilkinson OBE (born 25 May 1979 in Frimley, Surrey) is an English rugby union player, who has captained the England rugby union team. He plays his club rugby in the Guinness Premiership for Newcastle Falcons. He has a reputation for an obsessive approach to training; in particular spending hours a day on goal-kicking practice even while at school. This has paid some dividends; in 2003 he kicked the winning drop goal in the last minute of extra time of the final of the Rugby World Cup against Australia. He also has a reputation for being injury prone.

Wilkinson was educated at Pierrepont in Frensham and Lord Wandsworth College, playing rugby as a junior, he was talent-scouted by his school rugby coach. He graduated in 1997 and deferred his studies at Durham University for a year to try full-time rugby union. He started his career at inside centre for the Newcastle Falcons. By 1998, he had already been included in the full time England national team, making his debut from the bench against Ireland at Twickenham on April 4 of that year aged 18.

Wilkinson had established himself as a regular England rugby player, and subsequently made his World Cup debut at the 1999 World Cup. In 2001 Wilkinson helped the Falcons to the 2001 Tetley’s Bitter Cup at Twickenham. His elevation to worldwide acclaim was at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, where Wilkinson kicked the winning drop goal in extra time at Telstra Stadium to win England's first ever world cup, as well as breaking the dominance of southern hemisphere nations. However, due to a series of different injuries he has not appeared for England since that World Cup final nearly three years ago.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 1998-2000 2.2 2001-2002 2.3 2003 2.4 2004-2005 2.5 2006-present 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links

[edit] Early life

Jonny Wilkinson grew up in Hampshire and developed a love of rugby early in life, participating in the sport from the age of just four years old, playing for Farnham RFC. His father, Phil, had played rugby, and Wilkinson, along with his brother Mark, wanted to continue this. He started his education at Pierrepont, Frensham. Whilst at school, Wilkinson's sporting interests extended to cricket and tennis, as well as rugby.^[1]

Wilkinson's first recognition at national level came when he was 16, when he was selected for the England under-16 representative team. He made a name for himself when he was a part of the English under-18s Schools tour of Australia in 1997. On this tour he produced 94 points in only five games.^[2]

Wilkinson was talent-scouted by his school rugby coach, the Falcons coach Steve Bates. Upon leaving school in the summer of 1997 he deferred his studies at Durham University for a year to try full-time rugby union. His first season was a sufficient success that his studies remain on-hold eight years later.

[edit] Career

[edit] 1998-2000

Though he is probably the world's most famous fly-half, he started his career as an inside centre competing for a place with international veterans such as Inga Tuigamala and British Lion Alan Tait. In a star-studded team which ultimately went on to lift the 1997/8 Premiership title, he became a firm fixture in the side.

Such was his amazingly rapid rise to prominence that by March of 1998 he was in the full England Test squad, being an unused replacement against Scotland^[3] before making his debut from the bench against Ireland at Twickenham on April 4 of that year aged 18. ^[2]

He was a part of England’s subsequent disastrous ‘Tour of Hell’ in June 1998 which saw them demolished in both Australia and New Zealand, but Wilkinson emerged stronger from the experience, returning to domestic duties and taking over from director of rugby, Rob Andrew, as both fly-half and goal kicker for the Falcons. After starting both matches during 'The Tour of Hell' against the All Blacks and Australia, he became a firm fixture in the England team and started in all the matches of the 1999 Five Nations. He also played for the Falcons in their 1999 Tetley’s Bitter Cup final defeat to the London Wasps.

With under ten international caps to his name, Wilkinson proceeded to play for England in matches against Australia, the United States and Canada as the 1999 World Cup approached. He made his 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 to seven win.

After playing the remaining pool games against the All Blacks and Fiji, and being rested against Tonga, he was controversially relegated to the bench by head coach Clive Woodward for the quarter-final against South Africa, which England lost and made their exit from the World Cup.

The following year Wilkinson played in all five of England's matches at the Six Nations Championship, which now included Italy. England won the championship, narrowly missing out on a tournament grand slam by losing their final match against Scotland. He subsequently toured South Africa with England in June of 2000, kicking all of the points in their 27-22 win in Bloemfontein. He was then capped another three times for England during the Autumn internationals at the end of the year.

[edit] 2001-2002

The following year began with England's title defense of the Six Nations. After the opening win over the Welsh, Wilkinson set an individual Six Nations points scoring record with 35 points against Italy at Twickenham on February 17, 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, where a late Newcastle try saw them defeat Harlequin F.C. by three points, with the final score being 30 to 27. Wilkinson was the first choice fly-half and goal kicker for the 2001 British Lions tour to Australia in July. After the 29 to 13 win over Australia in Brisbane, in which he scored nine points through his kicking.

He was blamed by many for throwing a long pass inside his 22 that was intercepted by Joe Roff which was seen as the turning point in the second test which the Lions lost 35 to 14. He was under an injury cloud coming into the third and final test against the Wallabies, but made a full recovery, and scored a try in the game, and going he onto equal the Lions' best individual scoring total in a Test, with 18 points in the second match against Australia. Australia eventually won, and thus won the test series.

The incomplete Six Nations was concluded in October, with England playing Ireland. England lost 14 to 20. They missed out on a grand slam, though England won the tournament, as they had a better points difference than Ireland, who like England, won four of their five fixtures.

In a match against Australia for the Cook Cup in November, Wilkinson scored all of England's 21 points in their 21 to 15 victory at Twickenham. After being rested as an unused bench replacement in a 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 to nine victory.

Going for a third Six Nations title in a row, England were off to a good start to their 2002 tournament with wins over Scotland and Ireland, before going down to France in Paris, though they did win their remaining fixtures against Wales and Italy, though France went onto complete a grand slam. The 2001-02 Heineken Cup was not a successful story for the Falcons, as they won only one match, and finished at the bottom of their pool.

Wilkinson played a large role in England's first Autumn match of the year, against the All Blacks. He ended up scoring a try, kicking two successful conversions and three penalty goals, as well as a drop goal. It was Wilkinson that punted the ball to safety to end the match, as he 75,000 fans at Twickenham went wild as England pulled off a three point victory over All Blacks.

England then faced the then Tri Nations champions Australia, who had come off a loss to Ireland. With the two tries by Ben Cohen, with Wilkinson's kicking accuracy, it saw England defeat Australia by just a single point, 32 to 31. England aimed to pull off three wins in a row against the big guns of the Southern hemisphere, with a third tests against South Africa. England not only won, but embarrassed the Springboks by defeating them by 50 points for a record 53-3. The physical match saw Wilkinson exit the game with his right arm in a sling, and the England camp believe that Wilkinson was particularly targeted by South Africa during the game^[4]. Springbok Jannes Labuschagne was sent-off for a late tackle on Wilkinson in the first half.

[edit] 2003

The opening match of the 2003 Six Nations Championship was between last year's grand slam winners France, and England, both whom were high in confidence following their success in their end of year tests against nations from the Southern hemisphere. Many saw this game as practically a decider of the tournament. England won the match 25-17. Now considered favourites to win the tournament, as well as possibly a grand slam, England defeated Wales, Italy and Scotland. In the match against Italy, Wilkinson captained the side.

The final match was against Ireland at Lansdowne Road, which would determine whether or not England would become grand slam champions. Like their previous two matches, England put 40 points on their opponents to become the 2003 champions and seemingly become serious contenders for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in Australia. Wilkinson scored all 15 points as England beat New Zealand 15-13 in Wellington 2003 and was a major factor in their 25-14 win over Australia a week later. With England's 45 to 14 win over France in September, in which Wilkinson scored 18 points, England were now considered one of the favourites at the World Cup which as set to start in a month's time.

England's first match at the 2003 World Cup was at Subiaco Oval in Perth, where they defeated Georgia 84 points to six, with Wilkinson scoring 16 from goals. He played a large role in the pool match against the Springboks, in which he scored 20 of England's 25 points in the victory. The subsequent match against Samoa was a little close, but England still won, 35 to 22. He was rested for England's final match 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. Wilkinson scored 23 points in the match, which England won 28 to 13 to proceed to the semi-finals. England met France, whom they had beaten earlier that year on two occasions. England won 24 to 7, with Wilkinson scoring all 24 of England's points to see them through to the final. Wilkinson made history in the final against Australia, where he kicked a drop goal in extra time that saw England win the final 20 points to seventeen. Incidentally, the last time Australia lost a match in the Rugby World Cup 8 years earlier, Wilkinson's mentor Andrew scored a drop goal at the stroke of full time to win the game for England.

The Australian media did not take this loss very well, one newspaper bluntly stating "Good to see the back of you, Jonny" in front of a photo of Wilkinson's back as he left the pitch. Other media outlets in the southern hemisphere, such as those in New Zealand and South Africa, expressed similar discontent, especially at England's style of pack oriented, playing-for-the-penalty play. He was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and was also named the 2003 IRB World Player of the Year. In the same year he became the youngest ever rugby union player to receive a New Year's Honour with an MBE (he was listed prior to England's World Cup victory), and an OBE which he was awarded in 2004.

[edit] 2004-2005

Within a couple of weeks of winning the World Cup he was found to have had a broken facet in his shoulder and missed the 2004 Six Nations and the disastrous tour of New Zealand and Australia. Wilkinson was named Captain of the England team on 4 October 2004, replacing Lawrence Dallaglio who had resigned five weeks earlier. However, he was kept out of the 2004 autumn internationals by a haematoma in his upper right arm, the captaincy being taken over by Jason Robinson and then Martin Corry. In January 2005 he injured his medial knee ligament in a match against Perpignan. He missed the opening matches of the 2005 Six Nations Championship and on his return to Newcastle on 13 March 2005 he injured the same knee again.

In almost 18 months, he had played a total of only 938 minutes of competitive rugby union, but was nonetheless given a chance to prove his fitness for the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand. He did so and was called up to the Lions on 8 May. Wilkinson made his first international appearance since the 2003 World Cup final on 23 May at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff as the Lions played Argentina. Wilkinson, along with the rest of the team, played poorly, but kicked a conversion and six penalties, salvaging a 25-25 draw with the last kick of the game.

He made his first full international appearance since the 2003 World Cup in the Lions' first Test against New Zealand, starting at inside centre instead of his normal fly-half position. Wilkinson scored the Lions' only points in their comprehensive 21-3 defeat. In the second Test, another heavy loss, he started in his normal role of number 10, but suffered a stinger injury. Wilkinson did not play in the third Lions Test.

Wilkinson had to forgo participation in the Falcons' August pre-season games in Japan due to appendicitis. Then, after having appeared in five successive matches for Newcastle, the injury litany continued in late November with surgery for a sportsman's hernia, which he himself associated with the strain of his two (or more) hour kicking-sessions.

[edit] 2006-present

After over a two month absence, Jonny was named on the bench for the premiership game against London Irish on February 12, 2006, but did not get any game time. Wilkinson pulled out of training the following Tuesday and was reported to be suffering "an acute injury to his right adductor". In March, he told Rugby World Magazine that he was confident his best rugby was still ahead of him, despite critics and pundits asking whether Wilkinson will ever regain the form and confidence he possessed before his string of injury setbacks.

He was selected on the bench for the match against Guinness Premiership leaders Sale at Kingston Park on Sunday, April 16, he played all of the second half. He then played the last 50 minutes in the European Challenge Cup semi-final defeat against London Irish on April 23, but ended the match limping.

Rob Andrew, then Director of Rugby at Falcons, said subsequently that there was no chance of Wilkinson going on England's summer tour and that he would be taking the summer off. Despite missing two conversions, Jonny demonstrated his playmaker skills in the game against Worcester on April 30th, in which he again played all of the second half. Afterwards, Andrew reiterated that Wilkinson should not tour during the summer in order to get a prolonged recovery period. Jonny started as Captain in the Falcons last Premiership game of the season on Saturday, May 6, 2006, converting six of his team's 8 tries in their 54-19 demolition of Leeds Tykes.

Rob Andrew stated in July, pre-season to the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership, that Wilkinson would be ready to challenge for an England position come the November internationals. (Andrew has since been appointed Director of Elite Rugby for the English Rugby Football Union.) Captaincy of the Falcons was also given to former Wallabies fullback Matthew Burke, a move that Andrew believed would allow Wilkinson to concentrate more on his game and a full return to rugby.^[5] In early August head coach of England, Andy Robinson announced the Elite Player Squad for the 2006/07 season, in which Wilkinson was included in. The 55 member squad will make up the teams for the November tests, as well as the 2007 Six Nations.^[6]

During the second game of the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership season against Worcester Warriors on Friday, September 8, Jonny was helped from the pitch after 47 minutes with a knee injury incurred when one of his team members fell on him after he was tackled. A scan confirmed that he had torn the medial ligament of his right knee. Jonny returned to play a full 80 minutes in the 26-21 win against premiership leader Bristol on Friday, November 3, kicking a conversion, a drop-goal and 2 penalties. It was reported on November 9 that Jonny suffered a lacerated kidney during the match. He is expected to be out for up to 3 months.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Wilkinson, Jonny, (2004). My World, Headline Book Publishing, (ISBN 0-7472-4276-3)

[edit] External links

• "Wilkinson suffers another injury"
• Jonny's official Site
• Newcastle Falcons profile
• Behind the Wilkinson myth
• Adidas.com profile
• England Rugby profile

Preceded by: Fabien Galthié	IRB International Player of the Year 2003	Succeeded by: Schalk Burger
Preceded by: Paula Radcliffe	BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2003	Succeeded by: Kelly Holmes