Jonny Wilkinson

limerickman said:

I read a very good interview with JW in todays newspaper : this day two years JW dopped the goal to secure the world title for England in rugby.

Since then JW has had an unfortunate run of injuries : first his shoulder went, then he damaged his knee and he's currently out with groin strain.

But the interview he did was less to do with rugby and more to do with JW the man.
I always admired JW as a player : he was/is superb, he trains very very hard and he is an excellent role model for all kids out there.
After reading today interview, I am even more impressed with Jonny, the person.

It's a shame he has had such a bad run with injuries during the past 2 years because he is/was a great player, but I think the English supporters don't mind because he was fit when it counted. I have some female friends who love Jonny, (yes they happen to be English) and they don't care if he never plays for England again, he kicked the winning goal when it mattered.

Would be great to see the interview, which paper was it in?

Hi Lim

i am not much of a rugby man, as you know but is JW just a flash in the pan, the man that was in the right place in the right time for England to win the world cup?
how good is he as player, if you put the English hype aside?

limerickman said:

I read a very good interview with JW in todays newspaper : this day two years JW dopped the goal to secure the world title for England in rugby.

Since then JW has had an unfortunate run of injuries : first his shoulder went, then he damaged his knee and he's currently out with groin strain.

But the interview he did was less to do with rugby and more to do with JW the man.
I always admired JW as a player : he was/is superb, he trains very very hard and he is an excellent role model for all kids out there.
After reading today interview, I am even more impressed with Jonny, the person.

chch_legend said:

It's a shame he has had such a bad run with injuries during the past 2 years because he is/was a great player, but I think the English supporters don't mind because he was fit when it counted. I have some female friends who love Jonny, (yes they happen to be English) and they don't care if he never plays for England again, he kicked the winning goal when it mattered.

Would be great to see the interview, which paper was it in?

High praise from a Kiwi.

Here is the interview

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyunion/story/0,,1647862,00.html

MountainPro said:

Hi Lim

i am not much of a rugby man, as you know but is JW just a flash in the pan, the man that was in the right place in the right time for England to win the world cup?
how good is he as player, if you put the English hype aside?

MP - I was astonished to read that he has been an England player since
1997 !

The people who follow rugby seem to think he's one of the all time greats
(to my untutored eye, he seemed very good anyhow)

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyunion/story/0,,1647862,00.html

limerickman said:

MP - I was astonished to read that he has been an England player since
1997 !

The people who follow rugby seem to think he's one of the all time greats
(to my untutored eye, he seemed very good anyhow)

sport.guardian.co.uk0,,1647862,00.htmlOpen ↗

Not sure about an all time great, but was a good player, he could step up when it was needed.
Well he used to be able to cos they really needed him during the Lions tour earlier this year and he was noticeably absent.

chch_legend said:

Not sure about an all time great, but was a good player, he could step up when it was needed.
Well he used to be able to cos they really needed him during the Lions tour earlier this year and he was noticeably absent.

Andrew Mehrtens is one of the all-time great Fly-Halves (IMO), but I think Wilkinson is (was) better simply because he is a far better tackler. Beyond that I have a hard time picking between the two of them on their day. However Mehrtens has been able to play more matches - so on balance he is probably the better player to have in a squad.

Dan Carter appears to be shaping up to be an all-time great Fly-Half too. Can't wait to see how he does in the World Cup.

darkboong said:

Andrew Mehrtens is one of the all-time great Fly-Halves (IMO), but I think Wilkinson is (was) better simply because he is a far better tackler. Beyond that I have a hard time picking between the two of them on their day. However Mehrtens has been able to play more matches - so on balance he is probably the better player to have in a squad.

Dan Carter appears to be shaping up to be an all-time great Fly-Half too. Can't wait to see how he does in the World Cup.

I would have to agree Mehrtens only real negative was his tackiling, in saying that he did pull off a few big tackles during his career. Maybe if Jonny had taken a leaf out of Merts book and not tackled so much it would have been a different story. That only poses the question why did Jonny have to tackle so much? But thats a completely different thread topic.
Both players read the game extremely well, IMHO Dan Carter will be one of the greatest 1st 5/8th of all time, given what he has achieved so far in his short career.

The greatest outhalf ?

Many contenders : Jack Kyle, Cliff Morgan, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Naas Botha, Ollie Campbell, John Rutherford, Grant Fox, Andrew Mehrtens, Michael Lynagh, Hugo Porta : from the modern era JW, Rob Andrew, Joel Stransky.

Out half is more than mere kicking - a good outhalf controls the game and the backline.

limerickman said:

The greatest outhalf ?

Many contenders : Jack Kyle, Cliff Morgan, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Naas Botha, Ollie Campbell, John Rutherford, Grant Fox, Andrew Mehrtens, Michael Lynagh, Hugo Porta : from the modern era JW, Rob Andrew, Joel Stransky.

Out half is more than mere kicking - a good outhalf controls the game and the backline.

And that is exactly what Dan Carter does, he is commanding more and more respect from his peers and oponents as he matures as a rugby player. He will have a long and decorated career. He controls the AB's backline well and his control of the overall game will improve with each test match.

Granted you have named some excellent players but IMO Dan Carter will top them all.

limerickman said:

The greatest outhalf ?

Many contenders : Jack Kyle, Cliff Morgan, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Naas Botha, Ollie Campbell, John Rutherford, Grant Fox, Andrew Mehrtens, Michael Lynagh, Hugo Porta : from the modern era JW, Rob Andrew, Joel Stransky.

Out half is more than mere kicking - a good outhalf controls the game and the backline.

As a kiwi i cringe to see GF there!! I rate him alongside JW.... an average rugby payer with a great team and a good boot... Twas not Wilkinson who won the English the Webb Ellis it was Johno et al, numbers 1 - 8!!!!!! never forget who got JW in a position to kick that goal. The most over rated person in world rugby since Fox is my opinion of JW...not fit to lick Merhts balls let alone Carters

Fixey said:

As a kiwi i cringe to see GF there!! I rate him alongside JW.... an average rugby payer with a great team and a good boot...

Yeah, who needs Fly-Halfs to kick ? Just put Zinzan Brooke in as #8 and you can cut out all that tedious scrum-half stuff too.

Many contenders : Jack Kyle, Cliff Morgan, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Naas Botha, Ollie Campbell, John Rutherford, Grant Fox, Andrew Mehrtens, Michael Lynagh, Hugo Porta : from the modern era JW, Rob Andrew, Joel Stransky

On what basis is Rob Andrew there? He could kick the ball and.....?
From the modern era also, what about Diego Dominguez and Neil Jenkins? Both classy players who kept very poor teams in games.
To the all time greats, Jonathan Davies, one of, if not the greatest Welsh outside half. Shame he went north but...
Suprised no-one has named a French outside half, could be cos the French backs are so talented a great number 10 doesn't stand out.

stairdiver said:

Many contenders : Jack Kyle, Cliff Morgan, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Naas Botha, Ollie Campbell, John Rutherford, Grant Fox, Andrew Mehrtens, Michael Lynagh, Hugo Porta : from the modern era JW, Rob Andrew, Joel Stransky

On what basis is Rob Andrew there? He could kick the ball and.....?
From the modern era also, what about Diego Dominguez and Neil Jenkins? Both classy players who kept very poor teams in games.
To the all time greats, Jonathan Davies, one of, if not the greatest Welsh outside half. Shame he went north but...
Suprised no-one has named a French outside half, could be cos the French backs are so talented a great number 10 doesn't stand out.

You're right - I should have included Johnathan Davies (completely slipped my mind).
Neil Jenkins too.

French outhalfs ? Can you recommend any ?
French wingers, fullbacks and centres and scrumhalves were great, but outhalfs?
I can't think of any apart from Cambaroberro.

i know. Thought about it after i'd posted it. Castaignède maybe on a good day. That's what i mean about not standing out, French backs always have been awesome. To this day Blanco is still the worlds greatest ever full back. Closely followed by JPR of course.

stairdiver said:

i know. Thought about it after i'd posted it. Castaignède maybe on a good day. That's what i mean about not standing out, French backs always have been awesome. To this day Blanco is still the worlds greatest ever full back. Closely followed by JPR of course.

I would rate JPR higher than Banco at F/B : for me JPR could attack and defend.
Blanco could attack but I don't think his defence was as good as JPR's.

Blanco's real ability was that he played as a winger as well as F/B :