Remembering Jonathan Wilkinson

[Big Ewis]

Bernard Laporte, current headcoach of R.C.Toulon and former France headcoach; so a guy who's seen his fair share of stars and class players; calls Jonny Wilkinson "the player who's made the biggest impression on me", says an French article. He continues by saying "he isn't just a penalty kicker, but the greatest attacker I've seen and a great defender".
Current teammate Michael Claassens calls him "the best no.10 in the history of Rugby".
Also-clubmate Bryan Habana says he'll ask Wilko for an autographed jersey of his when it's over.

Jonny Wilkinson, as of next season, will integrate the RCT staff, probably (as specified earlier) as a kicking coach. But Bernard Laporte has even eluded to Wilko possibly taking over after he leaves, stating: "I don't know if he's got the will to or the ability, but it would be great. It's his call."


Some stats if you will(ko):

- 2: British and Irish Lions tours, in 2001 and 2005.

- 4: Wilko had to wait til his 4th cap, against Scotland, to get his points-counter started with 9 points (1pen, 3conv.). Final score 24-21, feb.20th 1999.

- 13 years of international service for England. Only Simon Shaw (14 years), Mike Catt (13years and some) and Jason Leonard (13 years and some) have served longer.

- 35: Jonny will turn 35yo by the time he plays his final final ever, on May 31st 2014 against the Castres Olympique.

- 36: the number of drop goals scored in his test career (record holder).

- Jonny has participated in 4 Rugby World Cups, from 1999 to 2011. Twice England couldn't reach the semi-finals with him, but he's also made the final twice, and won the Cup of course in 2003.

- 70.10%: Jonny's success rate from his capped games (England, B&I.Lions). Almost 3/4.

- 182: the number of points Sir Jonny has scored over Wales, his personal record against one side. France (161) and Australia (150) are second and third on his list.

- 1246: on the int'l scene, Jonnyboy has scored a total of 1246 points. To break it down, those are 7 tries, 255 penalties, 169 conversions, and the 36 drop goals.


Achievements:

- Heineken Cup winner: 2013.
- English Championships: 1998, 2001, 2004.
- Rugby World Cup: 2003 (runnerup in 2007).
- Six Nations: 2000, 2001, 2003 (Grand Slam), 2011.
- IRB Player of the Year: 2003.


And maybe he can add another Heineken Cup, and/or finally that Top 14 ***le by the end of this month.





I personally (sorry Little Guy) love Jonny Wilkinson, but I'll never understand why he played for England all those years...one of the greatest French players of all-time. I guess I can't hold it against him though, who could dislike Jonnyboy ?

 

[Draggs]

Greatest of the professional era?
I say yes, not only for performances on the pitch, but for his attitude and conduct. Of course there was always the '2003 animosity' and irritation over the BBC Wilko wankfest, but once I actually started watching rugby besides Wales tests, I came to appreciate him as more than a drop goal.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Greatest of the professional era?
I say yes, not only for performances on the pitch, but for his attitude and conduct. Of course there was always the '2003 animosity' and irritation over the BBC Wilko wankfest, but once I actually started watching rugby besides Wales tests, I came to appreciate him as more than a drop goal.

Without wanting to get into that argument, I'd put Dan Carter a long way ahead of Wilkinson as the greatest 10 of the pro era. Consistently the world's best in his position for the guts of a decade. I don't think I've seen many better performances than he gave in the 05' Lions tour. I think Wilko's game has a few more weaknesses than Carter's.

That said, great player, ultimate professional. Wonderful advert for the sport.

 

[dasNdanger]

Did he die? :huh:



das

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Agree with Feic, unfortunately him being Toulon's only redeeming factor doesn't outweigh bugs life jumping around after games. Not the greatest of the professional era but certainly the biggest superstar after Lomu which is incredible for a guy who'd have it any other way than that.

 

[Aristodemus]

He has had a great career, shame that injury cost him what could have been an even greater one.

 

[Draggs]

Yeah I don't want to get into a best of shootout, so I'll leave it at that, but I think part of it is him playing his career in closer proximity to me.

 

[goodNumber10]

I dunno, Carter has pretty much had an armchair ride, and still involved in some pretty monumental chokes.

I also think his off days have impacted on New Zealand more than Wilkinsons off days has for England, but maybe that's just rose tinted glasses.

Ultimately they are just quite different players, Carter doesn't have Wilkinsons game management, defence or passing game (Wilkinson is one of the best passers in the game), but he's got bags load of vision compared to Wilkinson and the ability to bring others into a close game in ways Wilkinson has never had, he's all so got way more pace then johnny ever had. They've both got good goalkicking and they are both integral to how their team plays - you build the team around them not make them fit in.

I get what your saying about 2005 and it wasa great individual performance, but Wilkinson in the Lions 2001 was incredible, the first test is probably the definitive number 10 performance in my eyes.

Regardless, i think we can all agree Wilkinson and Carter will both go down as legends of the game - it's surprising they haven't played against each other more.

 

[Draggs]

People often seem to overlook the fact that between the 2003WC and 2007SN Wilkinson didn't play for England once. What would the point record be at?

 

[Big Ewis]

errr...no Dan Carter here please. He's unbelievable in his own right, but Jonny just retired some hours ago for God's sake, can we focus on his accomplishments for what they are ?! Just imagine the kiwis scrolling through this thread reading some of the comments, we've got World War 3 on our hands !! "What ?! Wilkinson a better passer than Dan Carter ?! rabble rabble rabble !!!!!!"

So what I like the most about Jonny is his demeanor. The guy literally won the Rugby World Cup from his own boot. You couldn't think of a better metaphor for "Rugby hero" if you tried. And he never showed off about it, and sure doesn't look like a guy who's accomplished that and a ton of other things. If you didn't know who he was, you'd have no indication whatsoever that he's important at all. His aura is pure simplicity. And I've never seen him throw a suckerpunch or anything like that in games either. I've never heard him be toxic in interviews, with backhanded compliments about others or any sort of animosity in his speech.
He's the motherfcking man. A very, very special man. And he isn't the man because he's really good with an oval ball - he's the man because he accomplishes greatness, and remains genuinely humble, not just a facade of false humility. And THAT is greatness.
I really hope he wins something in the next couple of weeks...

And NO das, he ain't dead, now get out of here !!!!

EDIT:
the focus in his kicks. He's locked in on that ball, I always appreciated observing his facial expressions as he kicked:

 

[goodNumber10]

errr...no Dan Carter here please. He's unbelievable in his own right, but Jonny just retired some hours ago for God's sake, can we focus on his accomplishments for what they are ?! Just imagine the kiwis scrolling through this thread reading some of the comments, we've got World War 3 on our hands !! "What ?! Wilkinson a better passer than Dan Carter ?! rabble rabble rabble !!!!!!"

So what I like the most about Jonny is his demeanor. The guy literally won the Rugby World Cup from his own boot. You couldn't think of a better metaphor for "Rugby hero" if you tried. And he never showed off about it, and sure doesn't look like a guy who's accomplished that and a ton of other things. If you didn't know who he was, you'd have no indication whatsoever that he's important at all. His aura is pure simplicity. And I've never seen him throw a suckerpunch or anything like that in games either. I've never heard him be toxic in interviews, with backhanded compliments about others or any sort of animosity in his speech.
He's the motherfcking man. A very, very special man. And he isn't the man because he's really good with an oval ball - he's the man because he accomplishes greatness, and remains genuinely humble, not just a facade of false humility. And THAT is greatness.
I really hope he wins something in the next couple of weeks...

he will literally one of maybe two or three people to have won everything - Own domestic league, HCup, and one of the other european leagues and a world cup.

Brad Thorne And Bakkies are the only two i can think have done the same....

Brad thorne won super xv, Hcup, world and Pro12

Bakkies (if toloun win) will have superxv, world cup, h cup and Top 14

 

[big ginger 8]

he will literally one of maybe two or three people to have won everything - Own domestic league, HCup, and one of the other european leagues and a world cup.

Brad Thorne And Bakkies are the only two i can think have done the same....

Brad thorne won super xv, Hcup, world and Pro12

Bakkies (if toloun win) will have superxv, world cup, h cup and Top 14

Thorn's list is a bit longer than that. Even without his league medals.

 

[Draggs]

Brad Thorn didn't win Pro12, but this is beside the point.

 

[dasNdanger]

And NO das, he ain't dead, now get out of here !!!!

Make me!!

And next time word your ***les better so I don't think someone kicked the bucket instead of the ball!!!!





das

 

[goodNumber10]

Brad Thorn didn't win Pro12, but this is beside the point.

didn't win it with Leinster?

 

[Big Ewis]

Brad Thorn didn't win Pro12, but this is beside the point.

mmm, yes...indeed, it is besides the point

Make me!!

And next time word your ***les better so I don't think someone kicked the bucket instead of the ball!!!!





das

I KEEL YOU !!!!
And well yes, I meant "Remembering Jonny Wilkinson the player". You see, I can't be wrong, so it must be you who didn't understand it properly...

Oh and btw since you're here, you like ?




mmm ? You like the Jonnys ?

 

[goodNumber10]

ah, no.

Canterbury

NPC ***les 2001 and 2004[7]
Ranfurly Shield holder[11]
Crusaders

2008 Super Rugby ***le[7]
Combined 100 Super Rugby appearances with the Crusaders and Highlanders[12]
All Blacks

Bledisloe Cup 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011[13]
Tri-Nations ***les 2003, 2008 and 2010 (Undefeated in 2003 and 2010)[7]
Grand Slam 2008 and 2010[14]
2011 Rugby World Cup champion[15]
59 Test Matches for the All Blacks with a winning ratio of 86.44%[16]
Leinster

2012 Heineken Cup ***le[17]

 

[Big Ewis]

heh, but anyways, Thorn ain't no Jonny...

 

[Draggs]

didn't win it with Leinster?

Nope, lost in the 2012 final to the Ospreys.

 

[smartcooky]

I dunno, Carter has pretty much had an armchair ride, and still involved in some pretty monumental chokes.

I also think his off days have impacted on New Zealand more than Wilkinsons off days has for England, but maybe that's just rose tinted glasses.

Ultimately they are just quite different players, Carter doesn't have Wilkinsons game management, defence or passing game (Wilkinson is one of the best passers in the game), but he's got bags load of vision compared to Wilkinson and the ability to bring others into a close game in ways Wilkinson has never had, he's all so got way more pace then johnny ever had. They've both got good goalkicking and they are both integral to how their team plays - you build the team around them not make them fit in.

I get what your saying about 2005 and it wasa great individual performance, but Wilkinson in the Lions 2001 was incredible, the first test is probably the definitive number 10 performance in my eyes.

Regardless, i think we can all agree Wilkinson and Carter will both go down as legends of the game - it's surprising they haven't played against each other more.

You didn't mention his tackling. Wilkinson is the best tackling international 10 I can recall in my lifetime. He has delivered some rippers in his time

Also, I concur with your point regarding the type of "ride" the two players have had,

DC - 2003-2013 - 100 tests - 1440 points from 29 tries - 256 conversions - 255 penalty goals - 6 dropped goals
JW - 1998-2011 -- 97 tests - 1246 points from 6 tries -- 169 conversions - 255 penalty goals - 36 dropped goals

Wilkinson played for England for the majority of his career at a time when their game plan consisted mainly of applying pressure, slowing the game down, hiding the ball from the opposition and kicking the penalties when their opponents made mistakes.
Carter on the other hand was behind a pack that rarely went backwards, and in a team that played with the intent of running the ball and scoring tries. The stats show that.