Reborn Wilkinson pushes England case
By AFP, 17 Oct 2009 AFP is a Roar Pro
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England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson kicked 16 points and survived a worrying late hit to lead Toulon to a 31-23 European Challenge Cup win over Saracens here on Thursday.
In the process, he passed the 100-point mark for his new French employers as well as further pushing his case for a starting place in the England line-up for the forthcoming autumn Tests.
Fiji international centre Gabrieli Lovobalavu scored two first-half tries to help Toulon to an 18-9 lead at the break with Wilkinson playing a key role in both.
After Wilkinson had kicked two penalties for a 6-3 lead, the first try came in the 27th minute with the Englishman quickly releasing Japan’s Tongan-born winger Christian Loamanu who in turn fed Lovobalavu.
The Fijian was on the scoresheet again five minutes later.
This time Wilkinson launched a high, testing kick which Saracens’ ex-All Black scrum-half Justin Marshall misjudged, allowing Toulon fullback Luke Rooney to break through.
With the Saracens defence desperately short-handed, flanker Joe van Niekerk joined the line to supply Lovobalavu with the try-scoring pass.
By the interval, Saracens, with England skipper Steve Borthwick back in the team after a three-week injury absence, were clinging on thanks to three penalties from South African fly-off Derick Hougaard.
Toulon were quickly 23-9 ahead in the second half when a flurry of quick passes allowed Loamanu to free Tom May to score despite a suspicion of a forward pass.
Wilkinson missed the conversion but added a penalty for a 28-9 lead before Saracens cut the deficit again when Springbok lock Wikus van Heerden finished off a powerful, rolling maul.
Hougaard converted for 28-16 before Wilkinson added another penalty for a 31-16 lead heading into the last 15 minutes.
Saracens reduced the gap in the dying moments when winger Richard Haughton scored a breakaway try after intercepting a wayward pass from Toulon scrum-half Pierre Mignoni.
Wilkinson, whose career has been blighted by injuries, survived a late heavy tackle but dusted himself off before forcing a timely turnover.
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Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Good news for Australian fans: Sheridan, Mears, Rees, Cipriani, Flutey and Delon Armitage are all definitely ruled out of the coming test.
Justin said | October 18th 2009 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Cipriani? Isnt he ranked about 3rd or 4th choice over the past year? Flutey? Hardly a fearful opponent… You maing early excuses already KO?
Knives Out said | October 20th 2009 @ 8:37pm | Report comment
Cipriaini could potentially have been the new full back following Armitage’s injury. He has actually been playing very well recently and given that Johnson is free to alter the EPS squad I think there was a strong chance that Cipriani would have been included. I’m not going to be subtle here, I think these injuries are an absolute disaster.
Knives Out said | October 20th 2009 @ 8:50pm | Report comment
Wooah there… Let’s hang on a minute. Big Phil Vickery has also been ruled out. So that’s Sheridan, Mears, Vickery, Rees, Cipriaini, Flutey and D. Armitage.
I don’t think Vickery’s loss is necessarily that bad as White is a far superior scrummager, but it’s not good to lose that experience around a young and inexperienced team.
CraigB said | October 17th 2009 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Is Sheridan still sore from Baxter tearing him a new one the last time they played each other?
Viscount Crouchback said | October 17th 2009 @ 10:59am | Report comment
Sheridan dislocated his shoulder against Cardiff. It was quite horrific. The physios couldn’t pop it back in because, apparently, the huge muscles of modern players make it harder to relocate the joint. So poor old Big Ted sat on the turf in agony for five minutes whilst the medics forced oxygen down his throat.
It will probably be Payne or Flatman at loosehead for England now – hopefully the latter.
Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 11:18am | Report comment
I’d love to see Flatman in an England jersey once more. One of my former teachers used to coach him at Dulwich and apparently he’s always had a wonderfully spiteful streak. I once read an interview with Keith-Roach where PKR noted that Flatman was an excellent scrummager as a teenager.
Viscount Crouchback said | October 18th 2009 @ 9:27am | Report comment
Yes, I must have read the same interview – apparently Flatman is as good as it gets technically. I think there are two question marks over him: a) How long will his body hold up?; and b) Does he want it enough?
I liked the look of Payne when he first emerged on the England scene, but he seems to have stagnated badly since then.
Who are the other decent English looseheads around? I can’t think of many.
Knives Out said | October 18th 2009 @ 9:41am | Report comment
I think Flatman does want it, or at least that’s the impression I get. He has made quite a bit of noise over the past few years about a return to the big stage. The biggest issue is the fact that he isn’t an 80 minute performer. Like you say, is his body capable of test rugby?
I’m not sure what I think of Payne. He rarely gets pushed about in the scurm, he’s reasonably mobile and he is quite nasty, but doesn’t stand out. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a bad thing, but England doesn’t need a new Garforth.
I think that Matt Mullan is the new Leonard: reliable without being outstanding. He’s a typically unflinching yeoman and has been a consistent performer for Worcester. Nick Wood has his plaudits, as does the flexible Corbisiero, but are any of these players ready for test rugby? Not for a few seasons yet, IMO. This issue of experience is exacerbated by the absence of Mears. Hartley will most likely find himself in an intense position and he doesn’t need a rookie by his side. When Leonard was a regular England always had Rowntree to fall back on. They have the luxury of White as an alternative at 3, but no 1s.
Rugby Fan said | October 18th 2009 @ 2:27pm | Report comment
Does anyone know what happened to hooker Andy Titterell? He left Gloucester, unable to get ahead of Azam, and doesn’t seem to have surfaced anywhere.
I didn’t see enough of him to have a strong opinion but there were people who rated him highly a few seasons ago and, controversially, he even made the 2005 Lions squad. He now seems completely off the radar, falling out of favour more than even Chris Jones. Of course, this might be because selectors simply worked out that he wasn’t very good but he wouldn’t be the first England player to be “forgotten” after being talked up.
Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 11:16am | Report comment
No, I think he’s sore from all the times Baxter took the scrum down illegally. It is hard to protect oneself when you’re arms are locked in attempt to scrummage and your opponent is hell bent on avoiding the challenge. What a shame that Ben Alexander and Matt Dunning won’t be joining Mr Sheridan for a rumble. How I’d like to see those Australian champions assert themselves.
CraigB said | October 17th 2009 @ 10:50am | Report comment
And even better news the English are looking at J Wilkinson as a saviour
Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 11:19am | Report comment
It’s not like Wilkinson has a history of showing Australia the right side of the score sheet, is it?!
Daniel J said | October 17th 2009 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
it’s not like England to win once in World Cup (either rugby or cricket – the ashes) history and to gloat about it forever and completely suck through the intervals, is it?!
jamestheconvict said | October 17th 2009 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
ha ha ha ha ha — nnniiiiccceeee – anyway Wilko – is looking good right now – does anyone know what is happening at Toulon with SBW ?
Lem said | October 17th 2009 @ 5:40pm | Report comment
JW has kicked drop goals against Australia in three matches, and England won all of them. He’s never lost to Australia in Europe in 4 games, and not lost facing Australia since Nov 2001 (five games). Only a sore loser would think KO was referring to the RWC!
CraigB said | October 17th 2009 @ 8:38pm | Report comment
tell me, how many times has he played Australia since 2003?? How many time has he played in OZ since 2003? You can you stats to prove anything, 77% of people know that. You want to hang your hopes on an injury prone kicker, then feel free. It will take more than that to beat the Wallabies, much like it did when he was playing regular rugby and he relied on a gun forward pack to put him into position and win penalties. Over rated in the extreme, like most English sportsman who have even a morsel of talent.
Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 9:00pm | Report comment
Wilkinson has played Australia once since 2003, and if my memory serves me correctly then that was a rather important game. Beyond that I can’t imagine what leads you to think that anybody is hanging their hopes on Wilkinson. The coaching of Smith led England to produce back play far superior to anything seen by Australia in years. Further, it is an Australian myth that that supreme England team was one dimensional. Not only did it contain some of the best backs in the world it also used them frequently, as the team displayed in the 3 tries to 1 tonking in your own back yard (an occasion that followed a wonderful bit of Australian psychology). I know that it’s hard for an Australian supporter to see his team playing the most muted, dull, defensive kick-orientated rugby, but surely you’re used to it (and failure) by now, Craig? Chin up, buddy. Every litter has a runt.
Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
But which WC, Lem? 2003 or 2007? So many to choose from.
Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 7:36pm | Report comment
Well… when you come from a sporting nation with such an excellent contemporary pedigree then you have a lot to shout about.
SBW is injured.
Fraser said | October 17th 2009 @ 9:18pm | Report comment
hey guys,i dont get to watch any european/english rugby.but i went to school with joe ward from wasps.just wanted to know how he rates in the pom competition?
Knives Out said | October 17th 2009 @ 9:58pm | Report comment
Small world, eh. He started off brightly and was selected in one of the first EPS squads but since then he’s been overtaken by a younger player at Wasps called Rob Webber. Ward is always the bench option but when Webber was injured recently the Wasps coaches left Ward on the bench and called up an academy player straight into the starting line-up, and over Ward. I don’t know if there’s issues over his fitness but he simply isn’t getting any regular game time. He was an age group NZ captain, no?
Colin N said | October 17th 2009 @ 9:59pm | Report comment
Pretty average, Rob Webbar (young English hooker) is ahead of him. For some reason was chosen in the England Saxons squad, even though there’s better, younger hooker’s available.
Parisien said | October 17th 2009 @ 9:27pm | Report comment
Knives Out, you do yourself a disservice by citing injured English players, as if you are already making excuses in advance if England should lose. All teams have a list of players not available for one reason or another, including both Australia and England. Good teams go on and win anyway and injuries provide an opportunity to test other players and the team’s depth. England has plenty of depth so I wouldn’t worry if I was you, but its true that Australia does have a superior win-loss record over England, but not at Twickenham. My point is that its easy to criticise Australian rugby at the moment, and you’ve been a regular contributor in this area, always talking up Australia’s defeats with pleasure while talking down their victories.
Recently you asserted that the Wallabies only beat France because France let them by not picking their best players and “disrespecting the opposition “. This is nonsense and none of my French rugby friends or the French press felt this. You’ve also asserted that England have played much attacking rugby the last two seasons. Again, I and many other regular followers of the game beg to differ. You are the first to point the finger at those make spurious claims and yet you often do just that. Now you would re-write history and have us believe that Baxter did not get the better of Sheridan in their last encounter. The Australian scrum demolished the English scrum at Twickenham last year, a fact recognised by even the English commentators. It was particularly pleasurable for Australian fans given the previous history of the Wallaby scrum, and Baxter himself at Twickenham in the last four years.
For the coming match, yes, Sheridan would have been a handful for Alexander or Dunning – we’ll have to wait longer to see that match-up. As for Wilkinson, a fine player, I hope he does play as he has been excellent for Toulon this season and will bring some star appeal to the game as well as his talent.
So Knives Out, either be consistently impartial or just confess to being a biased English fan who watches all things English through rose tinted glasses…
Colin N said | October 18th 2009 @ 7:05am | Report comment
The reason the injuries are so vital is because of continuity. You saw how New Zealand struggled without Carter and McCaw. Armitage has been fantastic for England, and although Foden (his likely replacement) is talented, you don’t know how he will react to the pressures of international rugby. Sheridan will be a huge miss, partly because Tim Payne isn’t good enough, and his work in the loose is very underrated. He’s also a very good lifter in the lineout.
Flutey will probably be replaced by Geraghty, which is a similar case to Armitage, how will he react to international rugby after being out of the scene for a few years? It’s a huge loss.
I actually think Flood’s a big loss, because he was the person that got England clicking in the six nations. With him out and Wilkinson likely to come back, will England have to change their style of play?
Knives Out said | October 21st 2009 @ 4:41am | Report comment
Sheridan (32), Mears (34). Vickery (73), Tom Rees (15), Toby Flood (26), Riki Flutey (9), Delon Armitage (11).. Oh woe is me. England must be massive underdogs for this coming test. Massive underdogs.
Knives Out said | October 18th 2009 @ 7:29am | Report comment
Obviously you know your stuff because it was actually noted in an article by one of the contributors (Greg Russell) that I financially backed Australia to win the 09 3N. The only reason I have occasionally barracked Australian rugby is because most of their supporters are guilty of the same offence toward England and more significantly they actually happen to have a sense of humour.
France picked a ridiculuous team to play Australia and didn’t turn up physically or mentally. Lievremont noted that he wanted to win 1 game on tour. He did and France fought valiantly against NZ in the 2nd test. For the Australian test Lievremont picked a side for damage limitation. Anybody who knows French rugby would recognise that. Obviously nobody goes out to lose but it is abundantly clear how much the Australian test meant to an exhausted team. And btw, I didn’t say that Australia ‘only’ won due to a cynical selectorial agenda from Lievremont.
If you were to examine the statistics from the last Autumn tests then you would notice that England had a lot of possession and played silly rugby and attacked with disregard for their rugby tradition. In the 6N a balance was found and England’s attack was accurate, penetrative and thorough, hence the amount of tries they scored. I can’t see how you would contest that unless you don’t actually watch England and haven’t watched England since Johnson took over. I’ve made that claims at various points and I can recall the amount of people on one hand who have disagreed. Various Australian Roarers and NZ Roarers have agreed, much to their chagrin.
Once more I would have to question your rugby pedigree because there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Baxter outscrummaged Sheridan. I have openly admitted that the Australian scrum was more powerful but it is quite obvious that Baxter simply dropped scrum after scrum. That a commentator thought Baxter had the beating of Sheridan means absolutely nothing, and to suggest it does is bizarre.
Do yourself a favour and remove that chip from your shoulder.
CraigB said | October 18th 2009 @ 8:46am | Report comment
KO – Am I suggesting Baxter is great and Sheridan is rubbish? no, but to suggest that BAxter did not get the better of Sheridan in that 1 game is delusional. I have since watched it again because it was a year ago and he (with the help of the wallaby pack as a whole) killed the english and sheridan. To the point that big ted had to leave the field.
Knives Out said | October 18th 2009 @ 8:56am | Report comment
I didn’t imply that you did say Baxter was great. I suggest you watch the game again, Craig, Baxter does not get the better of Sheridan he simply collapses a la the 1st Lions test and yet another poor referee makes an arbitrary decision. The Australian pack had the power but not the technical legality, which is probably why they scrummaged poorly against Italy and Wales and conceded a pushover try against France. I certainly am no overt fan of Sheridan but there a myth started after that game.
Viscount Crouchback said | October 18th 2009 @ 9:35am | Report comment
Baxter did nothing in that game. He performed his usual routine of collapsing every scrum, and then leeched off the success of the excellent Moore and Robinson, who got on top of the replacement England tight-head – Stevens (chap with the cocaine problem) – around the hour mark.
The Aussie scrum ought to be licking its chops for Twickenham though. Phil Vickery has looked like a busted flush for the past six months – beasted by the Beast and then splintered again a few weeks ago in the Premiership. Dylan Hartley, who will probably play hooker, is an okay scrummager but nothing special. Sheridan is out and so too, probably, is the hard scrummaging Simon Shaw.
The lineout, on the other hand, could be extremely dangerous for Australia. Tom Croft will be a constant threat to the Aussie throw and, if he plays, so too will Nick Kennedy. James Horwill will have his work cut out.
Parisien said | October 17th 2009 @ 10:15pm | Report comment
There you go again making spurious claims:
“The coaching of Smith led England to produce back play far superior to anything seen by Australia in years. ”
You are entitled to your opinion KO but just because you assert it does not make it true.
Personally I think that is a ridiculous claim.
Parisien said | October 17th 2009 @ 10:23pm | Report comment
and another roaring one from KO:
“I know that it’s hard for an Australian supporter to see his team playing the most muted, dull, defensive kick-orientated rugby, but surely you’re used to it (and failure) ”
While true that this last season the Wallabies have played at times this way, with England its been a feature of their game for most of the last one hundred years. Furthermore, the Wallabies have a history of success against all nations except NZ and SA in terms of win/loss ratios, as well as winning two world cups: hardly a history of failure.
Knives Out said | October 18th 2009 @ 7:32am | Report comment
Firstly, English rugby exists in a winter atmosphere. Australian rugby doesn’t. Secondly, Australian rugby has consistently claimed to produce wonderful running rugby whereas English rugby hasn’t. This has not been true for years, and is a total myth perpetuated from the 1984 squad. Since 1999 Australia has been inherently conservative.
I didn’t suggest that Australian rugby had a culture or tradition of failure. Please read the threads.
Knives Out said | October 18th 2009 @ 8:27am | Report comment
Anyway, in short you’re taking things far too seriously.
Shahsan said | October 18th 2009 @ 8:15am | Report comment
Since the international season went on its break, I have been watching quite a bit of northern hempishere rugby, as well as Currie Cup and NPC matches, and am wondering: where has all the kicking gone?
There has been the usual tactical and clearance kicking going on, of course, but nowhere near the amount seen in the Tri Nations, and have been pleasantly surprised by how positive the rugby has been, even in semifinal matches, and in South Africa at that (ie Currie Cup).
Was the Tri Nations an aberation? Was it a case of attitude ie if teams want to play running rugby, it doesnt hurt?
But which version of the game will we see in the November internationals? And who will be to blame if it is a kickfest?
On another note, to those who have not watched the Toulon game mentioned above, go take a look. JW is in good form, and prompts some good running rugby, while being unerring with his boot. One defensive clearance in teh second half, from a very tight angle, was especially brilliant. Those who denigrate him as a one-trick pony do him a major disservice. Defensively there has been no better flyhalf in the game, and his distribution and kicking is among the best. His only area of relative weakness, in my opinion, is as a runner, where he is not as good as Larkham or Carter, but then who is?
Pity that he wasnt really in form in 2005 and got outplayed by Dan Carter, but if they were to meet again now I think it would be a very different result.
True Tah said | October 18th 2009 @ 3:30pm | Report comment
Shahsan, I think re: Wilkinson and Aussies, its a lot of sour gripes and it clouds our judgement. England won that game in 2003 by playing running rugby and outscored us three tries to one, with the Aussie try being scored in the last minute of the game and Jonny was flyhalf in that game. He is not as fast as a Carter or Larkham, but his passing game was excellent and his defence is the best of any flyhalf I have seen, and has put any number of massive blokes into the turf.
Its good that he could be back in the England XV, look forward to seeing him.
Shahsan I watched the Cheetahs v Sharks this morning and it was an excellent game, maybe a bit scrappy towards the end, but definitely entertaining. I hope the Cheetahs can upset their highveldt neighbours next weekend. Makes you wonder what Australia should really have!
Shahsan said | October 19th 2009 @ 6:25am | Report comment
Yes True Tah, that 2003 game showed that England can play an expansive game if they wanted but they preferred to go for safety first and expedient rugby to win the World Cup later that year. It was a bit like South Africa this year in Perth, when they played a running game in hammering Australia, just to show they could. But when it came to teh crunch they would always choose to win games in the most efficient manner.
And that is the same in probably every competition, in every team sport. When it comes to finals, you do what you know will work best for winning. Even the much maligned 2007 saw some wonderful rugby in the early stages, but when it came time for knock-out stages, needs must. it’s a pity but something we must get used to, i believe. The football World Cup, for all its hype, is the same too since 1974: lovely football in the early rounds, but mostly dreary, safety-first stuff in teh final stages..
Shahsan said | October 19th 2009 @ 6:27am | Report comment
Hope you caught the WP vs Bulls semi too. the WP winger lost them the game, didnt he, with an unnescesary high tackle 3 minutes from time. Silly thing to when you have a one-point lead and Morne Steyn is in the opposition. But a good game nevertheless.
Parisien said | October 19th 2009 @ 9:49pm | Report comment
Isn’t pedigree something discussed in horse studs, dog kennels and English public schools? What sort of pedigree is required to contribute to an Australian rugby blog? Most amusing and I had a good laugh!
As for rugby experience and knowledge, if thats what you mean, I’ve played and followed it closely for many years, in both southern and northern hemispheres. I’m far from being an expert though. Give me your address if you like and I’ll send you my CV ! Try and remember that this is a rugby blog and all opinions are welcome regardless of experience, knowledge, “pedigree” or whatever you want to call it.
Anyway, would still like to hear exactly how and why the French team picked to play Australia was ridiculous.
Also, according to L’Equipe and the excellent French weekly rugby newspaper Le Midi Olympique, Bernard Lepasset the FFR president and Lievremont felt their record on previous June tours was dismal, and that winning at least one of the three tests was the “minimum” requirement. That does not mean at all that having secured a win over NZ they could rest on their laurels and I think they, the players and the fans would be offended by your comments that they didn’t show up mentally or physically, and that the side picked was just about damage control. These were your words and they even sound ironically flattering to the Wallabies… I read in interviews and articles that Les Bleus were after revenge for the game last November that they would have won if Skrela hadn’t had an absolute shocker with the boot. Having said all that, I don’t think the Basteraud affair helped, and they missed him and Vermeulen in the game, even if their replacements were sound.
Coming back to the subject of the thread, I would prefer to watch Wilkinson play than Andy Goode, who I’ve watched play live for Brive and who I think is a slow plodder. He does have a good eye and a handy boot as the try he set up for Sackey in the last 6N showed, but I think JW brings lots more if he is in form, both in defence and attack.
With regards to injuries, Armitage and his French flair will be missed, but Geraghty should go ok if he replaces Flutey.
Knives Out said | October 19th 2009 @ 10:59pm | Report comment
If you know French rugby then you know French rugby. Even the people who don’t know French rugby understand the stereotypes that pervade their myth. French teams generally don’t turn up away. French players know this and French fans know this. The players had experienced a massively long season as usual, had just played and beaten NZ in NZ and with only one game left decided to effect a damage limitation exercise. Playing three kicking players in the spine of the team: Yachvili, Beauxis and Traille hints at this, as does the selection of Mermoz at 12. France aimed not to lose by much, rather than to win regardless of any of the typically boring press bytes: “Yes, of course we want to win.” … until the first kick off and the players realise they are not in it to win it.
If people (and this includes English fans) expect Geraghty to slot into the 12 shirt with casual aplomb then I think they are mistaken. He has been playing some excellent rugby at 10 and it is likely that he will be asked to play in an entirely new defensive position whereby he will have (according to Smith’s plans) organise the way that the English forwards manage the ruck contest whilst maintaining the necessary attacking equilibrium with Wilkinson and the 13. Frankly, I think it is a huge problem that England will be entering some very important tests with a new spine at 10-12 and 15. I think it’s a disaster.
Pippinu said | October 19th 2009 @ 9:55pm | Report comment
I get a weekly pedigree at my local beauty salon.