Jonny - he's only human
Posted on 15/02/2010With Ireland's defeat in Paris on Saturday, and England's rather laboured victory in Rome, Martin Johnson's side and France are now the only two teams still on course for a Grand Slam. But England's performance was far from perfect, and what was more concerning, was Jonny Wilkinson's innacuracy with the boot, writes Simon Barnes in The Times
England made almost absurdly heavy weather of this closely fought match. Near the end they were fending off an enthralling Italian attack with a safety margin of only two points. The whiff of upset was in the air, and so was the triumphal march from Aïda. The shag-haired, bearded, big-bodied Italy forwards were inspiring the crowd and charging forward with a sudden belief that the eternal underdog of the RBS Six Nations Championship was about to bite the snootiest dog of all.England finally outlasted Italy to win 17-12. They are unbeaten in the championship, just like France, except not really all that much like France. Wilkinson’s contribution was a nightmare of uncertainty in a team who are plagued with the stuff. Jonny uncertain! You’ll be telling me next that he’s got the yips.
But — well, it did look a tiny bit like the dreaded yips. He missed three kicks at goal, two of them bringing gasps of disbelief from the mighty England contingent in the stands. He took on a long shot, just inside his own half — that was perhaps a 60 per-center, an 80 per-center when Wilkinson was at his best in the early Noughties.
He didn’t miss it in terms of accuracy. He just didn’t kick the ball far enough. Even when Wilkinson misses, you expect him to make sweet contact, that perfect impact is the very core of his being. But no, the ball fell humiliatingly short. As if Wilkinson was just like everybody else. You know — fallible. Human.
A glorious thing, then, to save the team and the match while playing so far below your best. That is perhaps the ultimate unselfishness of an athlete such as Wilkinson. Instead of indulging himself with agonies of guilt, he was there waiting — begging — for the ball. Not to make amends or to seek redemption or anything like that; just to kick the damn goal and put the spectre of defeat on the retreat.Even on a terrible afternoon, Wilkinson showed us something special. He showed us that even a bad game doesn’t daunt him. Even playing pretty poorly doesn’t get in the way of his desire to get it right. To save the day, not for himself and his reputation, but so the team can get that W on the board.
Conclusion: England are not a great team, and this was not a great match. Wilkinson didn’t have a great day, but he is still a great man.
However, Richard Williams in The Guardian believes that it may be too late, and Wilkinson, now 30, may never refind his best form.
Many of Wilkinson's virtues remain intact, not least his physical commitment in the tackle area and his ability to throw a long and accurate miss-pass. But whether, at the age of 30, he can return to the sort of all-singing, all-dancing form he regularly showed in the year before the 2003 World Cup, when he had Will Greenwood outside him and Brian Ashton coaching the attack, is another matter.The evidence of today, with England enjoying plenty of possession in decent playing conditions against modest opposition, told an unhappy story. If Wilkinson could not find it within himself to exert a dominant influence on this match, then perhaps he never will again.