Gut instinct tells Wilko it's time to go
AFP
May 20, 2014, 5:28 am
London (AFP) - Jonny Wilkinson said a "loud and pretty true gut feeling" had told him now was the right time to bring down the curtain on a brilliant career.
For a player renowned for his methodical preparation and attention to detail, it seemed strange that such an old-fashioned thing as 'gut instinct' should be the spark for the England fly-half great's announcement on Monday.
But the 2003 World Cup-winner, 35 this coming Sunday, said he'd been thinking of retiring for some time.
Now he has just two games left before he bows out of rugby union, with the outside-half trying to help Toulon retain the European Cup they won last season when they face Saracens in Saturday's final in Cardiff before their French Top 14 final clash with Castres on May 31.
"I have been thinking about it throughout the year, and now is the right time and right feeling," said Wilkinson, in a conference call from Toulon with British reporters on Monday.
"I also know that I want to get it completely out of the way so that we focus more than ever on these two games. It's a weight off my shoulders, to be honest.
"It has just been a gut feeling thing, and the gut feeling is loud and pretty true right now."
Wilkinson had long been tipped to retire at the end of this season but England's record points-scorer, still only second on the all-time list to New Zealand No 10 Dan Carter, said he still felt nervous in walking away from the only job he's known.
"There is a huge amount of fear for anybody who is going into an area to which they are not accustomed," explained Wilkinson, whose drop-goal won England the 2003 World Cup final.
"Having been playing rugby since the day I left school, and having never had a proper job, I think this leaves me a bit unprepared in terms of what comes next.
"But at the same time I am seeing that as a positive step next in which everyone has to make.
"Everyone thinks they can carry on forever, but it is becoming ever more apparent when you see the size of the guys running alongside you - and at you - that it is ultimately a younger man's sport and reserved for those that have their future ahead of them, and not mine."
Toulon coach Bernard Laporte said Monday that Wilkinson would be joining the club's backroom staff, although the player himself indicated a preference for working on individual skills.
"Hopefully, I would love to have an opportunity to work on skills and to really try to maximise the ability of the team by working individually on a one-on-one basis," he said.
"That is kind of where I would love to spend my time in rugby, certainly initially. I would love to try to get the best out of everyone."
But before any of that Wilkinson said he would be concentrating solely on helping Toulon record a European and domestic 'double'.
"With these two big games, preparation is paramount," he said.
"We must make sure, having spent so much time and having gone through so much, that we perform and give ourselves the best chance.
"Everything has always felt so damned important anyway. For me, rugby has always been a life or death thing, and I don't think that is going to change coming to the end of it all.
"The best way to go out, I think, is trying at least to show everything that is good about yourself."
Following Wilkinson's announcement, there were numerous tributes from rugby's great and good including one from Springbok wing Bryan Habana.
An opponent while playing for South Africa, Habana has come to know Wilkinson as a team-mate at Toulon.
"It's been a great honour and privilege to play with him, he's one of the most professional players I've known and one of the most humble," Habana told AFP in Toulon.
"After everything he's been through, everything he's done, he deserves to go out of the game in style."
"After (Wilkinson's last match), I might ask him for a signed shirt because I'm also a fan," Habana said with a smile.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...ts-time-to-go/
An absolute legend of the game on and off the field (some young fellas could learn a lot from him in that regard), congratulations on an awesome rugby career and with any luck he wont be totally lost to the game. At worst I'm sure he'll pop his head up every four years. Probably the most distressing few minutes of rugby of have ever had the privilege of watching from the stands was leading up to "that kick". Thanks for the memories Jonny, good and bad :approve:
'Wilkinson changed rugby': England coach
AAP
Duncan Bech
May 20, 2014, 7:05 am
Jonny Wilkinson will enter retirement bearing the ultimate tribute from England head coach Stuart Lancaster who believes the World Cup winner's influence has changed the face of the game.
Wilkinson's remarkable 17-year professional career is just two matches away from its conclusion after he announced he will hang up his boots at the end of the season.
The 34-year-old, arguably the sport's biggest star, will bow out with Toulon's Heineken Cup final against Saracens on Saturday and the Top 14 final against Castres the following weekend.
Lancaster believes Wilkinson's impact on the sport has been vast, highlighting the extraordinary level of dedication shown by the former England fly-half and captain.
"I've never had the privilege to coach Jonny but he will get a huge number of plaudits and rightly so," Lancaster said on Monday.
"He has changed the way the game has been played, but more importantly changed the way in which people prepare to play the game.
"The detail and preparation he did off the field made him the complete player.
"His influence on so many rugby players across the world in that respect is phenomenal.
"I can't actually think of a player in rugby who would have had the same impact on the sport as him."
Wilkinson's imminent retirement had been widely anticipated and the news was confirmed on Toulon's website on Monday morning.
"It goes without saying that I have an enormous number of people to thank for their support from all around the world, but especially here in France and in England," said Wilkinson, who is 35 on Sunday.
"This, however, is not at all the time to be concentrating on this as I would like to focus all my attention and energy on the team and these final two games of the season.
"I sincerely thank you all for everything you have given me and for making these last 17 years something I will never forget."
Wilkinson bows out as one of only five players to have scored 1000 international points, with his haul of 1,246 second only to New Zealand great Dan Carter.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...england-coach/