Can Wilkinson make France?

[luke_the_pom]

I haven't been around much and was just seeing if I still had the touch...........sometimes it's like taking candy from a child......oh I did.

Duin do ghob

[Jess]

Duin do ghob

[The EnForcer]

It means "shut your gob"......


Robert Burns is said to have watched as a sailor jumped into the harbour to rescue a rich englishman who had fallen into the water. As a reward, the rich englishman gave his rescuer a shilling. The crowd became angry at the small amount but Burns observed :

"This gentleman is the best judge of the value of his own life".

[Prop Star]

So Charlie is shit is he?

Ok, time to stop living in 2003 and start living in 2006/7.

The facts are that currently Charlie Hodgson is the best English kicker in the Guiness Premiership in terms of points (behind NZ's Glen Jackson of Sarries) with an 80% success rate.

Andy Goode (leicester) is 3rd with a 78% success rate.

Our Jonny (in the games he has played) is only at 58% this season.

On form Charlie is the obvious choice, and in terms of his allround play, a better flyhalf.

With his ruptured kidney, Jonny wont be seen again until at least April 2007, and, will play a minimal amount of rugby before the World Cup, certainly no international rugby.

The question is would England pick a player based on this sort of form? I would hope not, and certainly not as first choice in the team.

Mind you, if the British Media continue to tout JW with the sort of Messianic furore as they have done in the past, who knows?

what ya mean like the kiwis?? dominate all year every year except on the world stage?



im saying Charlie is shit yes!

not Wilko

[Burgs]

Something about a pipe and smoking it there Prop Star?
Well said mate

[luke_the_pom]

So Charlie is shit is he?

Ok, time to stop living in 2003 and start living in 2006/7.

The facts are that currently Charlie Hodgson is the best English kicker in the Guiness Premiership in terms of points (behind NZ's Glen Jackson of Sarries) with an 80% success rate.

Andy Goode (leicester) is 3rd with a 78% success rate.

Our Jonny (in the games he has played) is only at 58% this season.

On form Charlie is the obvious choice, and in terms of his allround play, a better flyhalf.

With his ruptured kidney, Jonny wont be seen again until at least April 2007, and, will play a minimal amount of rugby before the World Cup, certainly no international rugby.

The question is would England pick a player based on this sort of form? I would hope not, and certainly not as first choice in the team.

Mind you, if the British Media continue to tout JW with the sort of Messianic furore as they have done in the past, who knows?

all ya STATS might mean a lot to you mate but the Guinness Premiership is not the same as the International level. He has had plenty of chances internationally and time after time he has failed..... how many chances can you give him??

Wilko will be back well before April and he will be picked before Charlie.

[JediKnight]

LTP - rugby is a team sport & if the rest of the team aren't performing then it makes it very difficult for 1 person to play to his best potential. Look at RWC 2003, it was a rare occasion that the majority of the England team played to their true potential and that made JW look like the world-class player he was reputed to be on paper.

[Prop Star]

And so the Messianic Furore begins.....

Internationally what has Jonny done since November 2003? A couple of spankings by the All Blacks playing for the Lions.

But I forget, you're committed to picking Jonny based on his form in 2003.

If Wilkinson does get picked to play for England in RWC 2007 it should and will probably be based on his domestic performances in the Guiness Premiership, which have been few and far between, and not on what he did 3-4 years ago.

Matt Dawson (who knows a bit about rugby) said “There’s no one to cover Charlie and that really worries me. Charlie is just flying. I would have Charlie ahead of Jonny even if he was fit. Jonny is fantastic but as an all-round fly half — decision-making, tactical kicking, passing — Charlie is so far out front.

“Having played with both of them, Charlie is a better all-round No 10. There is no way I would pick Jonny ahead of Charlie."

I don't think he's talking about preferred methods of contraception.

Mate, I'll take stats and measurable current performance over blind nostalgia and optimism any day of the week, must be my age....

[The EnForcer]

Mate, I'll take stats and measurable current performance over blind nostalgia and optimism any day of the week, must be my age....

Well said.....but it's not "age", it's "the age".........or it is for those who are smart enough to understand that.

JW...RIP

[pruc]

i really hope jonny will play. even though i hate him for what he did to us in 03 but jonny changed the simple set shot into an art. it was already an art it just needed a master. since jonny became big alot of people have started to use his technic and to most it has helped them. He was and still is a great selling point to get people involved in rugby. Jonny proved that a pretty boy flyhalf is worth his weight in gold

[Darren]

You a flyhalf, pruc?

[pruc]

You a flyhalf, pruc?

*sigh* i wish i was. I am a loose forward/ center8) In my younger days say ummm under 12's i was faster and played flyhalf but I am a kicker and its sad but i have a book by jonny teaching me how to kick. since reading the book my kicking has improved remarkibly!

[Shaun]

I think they will take him no matter what, just like they did with Wayne Rooney in the Soccer World Cup (sorry for talking about soccer)...

[Blew Crew]

I see Hodgson's last two games were poor.

The BBC website gave him the lowest ranking of a 4 out of 10 for each of the tests.

[JediKnight]

Have just watched the England v South Africa game from yesterday.....2 teams struggling against mediocrity!!! England were lucky to win as they looked inept for most of the game, although Andy Goode did play a lot better than Hodgson when he came on as a replacement.

It seemed to me that a few players were playing on reputation rather than passion & desire. For both their tries, the forwards kept the ball for probably 5 or 6 too many phases (sorry fellow forwards but sometimes you just have to let the pretty boys do their stuff!!!).

South Africa weren't a whole lot better and didn't offer a huge amount of creativity to the game although they were probably unlucky to lose the match.

I guess this means that LTP will be coming out from under his rock!!!