In a Test career lasting 13 years and counting, it’s fair to say Jonny Wilkinson has excelled at goal kicking.
The England flyhalf needs only seven points to pass the All Blacks’ Dan Carter as the highest all-time scorer in Test rugby despite being sidelined for 1169 days because of various injuries since his famous dropped goal clinched the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
He has scored 1177 points for England to sit 777 above Paul Grayson, the next most prolific player for their country.
He’s also the leading points-scorer in World Cup history with 275, 135 more than the next active player, Scotland utility back Chris Paterson.
But Wilkinson is in the midst of a terrible slump at the World Cup in New Zealand, where he’s successful with less than half of his shots at goal.
After the completion of the pool stage, Wilkinson’s 45 per cent success rate is the third lowest of all the leading place kickers for each of the 20 nations – ahead of only Namibia’s Theuns Kotze (40) and Romania’s Marin Dumbrava (38), who both played for winless teams.
The 32-year-old Wilkinson still averages just under 74 per cent for England overall, but Toby Flood’s success rate of 77 per cent at the tournament leaves England manager Martin Johnson with a decision to make for the quarter-final against France on Saturday at Eden Park.
Wilkinson kicked three from eight attempts in England’s opening 13-9 win over Argentina in the unusual surrounds of the enclosed Otago Stadium in Dunedin. He later pleaded ignorance to the extent of his inaccuracy.
“I don’t even know how many I missed,” Wilkinson said. “I’m not going to apportion any kind of blame other than to myself.”
But England captain Mike Tindall hinted that Wilkinson was unhappy with the new Gilbert Virtuo ball being used at the tournament, saying “he said he just couldn’t get the control on the ball … He said he was hitting it well, but couldn’t control it.”
England kicking coach Dave Alred and fitness coach Paul Stridgeon even illegally switched balls for Wilkinson’s conversion attempts in the 67-3 win against Romania, resulting in both staffers being stood down by the Rugby Football Union for the next game versus Scotland.
Wilkinson landed just two from four overall against Scotland before Flood took over to land the sideline conversion right near the end of England’s 16-12 comeback win.
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