They are the words Australian rugby will least want to hear, and they come from Tom May, formerly of Newcastle and now plying his trade in the south of France with Toulon.
“Is Jonny comparable now to where he was when he kicked that drop goal?” asks the centre who last played for England only last June against Argentina, but who failed to make the squad for the autumn internationals.
“No, he’s not. Jonny’s much better. We’ve all witnessed it down in Toulon for a number of weeks but now English rugby is about to discover this as well. More to the point so, too, will Australia.”
The drop goal May refers to is, of course, the three-pointer Jonny Wilkinson scored with 25 seconds remaining of extra time to beat Australia and win the World Cup in Sydney back in 2003.
It was a score that made Wilkinson the most famous man in Britain for a while, and it also marked the beginning of an endless string of career-threatening injuries that saw him make abortive comeback after comeback, save for a mini-run that saw him kick England to the 2007 World Cup final in Paris.
Along the way it was his boot that saw off Australia in the quarter-final in the kind of nerveless display that underlined why he is the leading points scorer in test match history, and a man who averages almost 15 points per international, but he would soon be lost again to more injury.
That is, until now. Lean, fit and tanned, Wilkinson is not only back, but pretty much the first name manager Martin Johnson will write down when he makes his final selection for England’s starting XV to face the Wallabies on Saturday at Twickenham.
If it comes as a surprise to see Wilkinson back at all after six years of injury-plagued misery, it is an even bigger shock, especially to the Australians, to discover that he is, according to Tom May, “better than ever.”
May, more than any other rugby player in the world, should know, because he played immediately outside Wilkinson at Newcastle for ten years – or at least whenever the fly half was fit – and now does exactly the same in Toulon, having made the big move from the north-east of England to the south of France at the same time as his long-term teammate.
“Jonny’s a hero down here,” May explained. “Everybody loves him, and that includes the players. He does what the best fly halves do, and that’s direct play. His role is pivotal to the team and he directs the players in a way that he never did before.
“If we’re honest Jonny wasn’t the all-round ten even when he was winning the World Cup. His defence was awesome and he was the best place kicker in the world, but there were flaws in his game which people didn’t want to see because he popped that drop goal over to win the World Cup final.
“Last week against Bourgoin Jonny scored what was probably the best try of his career, collecting the ball, chipping over the defender, retrieving it on the bounce before stepping the full-back to score. It was the perfect score from a fly half, and one that confirmed that he has become the all-round player. Add this to his known qualities – and he still hits the target virtually every time with his place-kicks – and you have the new, and better Jonny Wilkinson.”
So what has made all the difference? Is it simply down to a run of injury-free games? May believes the move has stopped a rot that began almost before the spinning ball in Sydney six years’ ago had bounced the other side of the goalposts.
“If it had been me who kicked that drop goal it would definitely have done my head in,” May admitted. “He became immediately pigeon-holed by it and that’s when the pressure began. Then the injuries started to mount up and the pressure built up. I could see it when we trained. He felt so guilty about being injured all the time that he had to work harder each time to prove to himself, much more than anyone else, that he could get back to where he was.
“In the end even Jonny realised he needed to move. It was a fresh start and it has cleansed his mind, and body. The lifestyle suits him. We all lead much more of an outdoor way of life down here. When it comes to training Jonny works just as hard but now it’s in shorter spells. I do some extra training with him and I’d still say he trains more than anyone else at the club, but it is twenty minutes here and there and always short and sweet. He has become a more rounded player, and a more rounded person.”
Wilkinson admitted himself yesterday that he had never lost his hunger, but he had feared that days such as next Saturday would ever happen again. “It scared me, for sure,” the 30-year-old revealed. “The thought of not playing for England motivated me because I still want to be here.
“Of course it occurred to me that my time might have come and gone, especially when other guys were coming in and playing great stuff and I was still injured. I think that’s what tipped me over the edge about leaving Newcastle. I was very grateful to how the club supported me but I realised I wasn’t paying them back by being contracted to play what turned out to be a few games a season for them only. I was trying to return the favour, but I was achieving the opposite.
“Now I feel as fit, if not fitter, than I’ve ever been, and it’s so nice to be talking without any soreness or niggle at all. I really don’t feel like a guy not far off a potential fourth world cup but that’s because I haven’t played for anywhere near the 12 years I’ve been a professional.”
His new captain, Steve Borthwick, is clearly delighted to have the man back and, even though the lock was keen to promote the team element of England he could not avoid singling out Wilkinson.
“Having Jonny back and around us all has added huge value to the England environment,” he explained. “I’m not just talking about the tangible aspects, such as all his skills sets. I’m also referring to his detail for preparation and his continual search for improvement. It can’t fail to rub off on everyone else in the group.”
He, together with Johnson and the whole of English rugby, will be pleased to know that some of the old traits remain, however.
“I still get lost in my obsessive bubble when I’m playing,” Wilkinson added. “And I can’t stand not mucking in and doing my bit, whether it’s tackling, or hitting the rucks. The nerves and desire still kick in, even after all these years.”
Back in Toulon May concludes with an anecdote that sums his long-term teammate up to a tee. “All the non-French players at Toulon have French classes,” he revealed. “I’m in the advanced group, which would be the highest standard if it were not for the fact that Jonny is in a group consisting of just himself because his French is so superior to anyone else.
“When all the Kiwis and South Africans and English have a query over the language in Toulon we don’t go to one of the French players. We all seek out Jonny.”
May laughed. “Isn’t that just typical Jonny Wilkinson?”
Come Saturday late afternoon and Wilkinson will play a key role in deciding whether it is England or Australia who will be laughing long into the night.
