Man behind the Match: Wilkinson comes back – with a record of course!

It was like he had never been away. Exactly 1,148 days since his last England appearance – you might remember that one, in Sydney in 2003 – Jonny Wilkinson was back in the Red Rose jersey.
Four years of injury hell meant that Twickenham’s favourite son had been out of the picture for so long some had already started to write him off as a spent force in the international game.
But on the eve of the 2007 Six Nations opener against Scotland the newly-installed head coach Brian Ashton had picked the golden boy and the stage was set.
England’s fans had endured a time of famine since that iconic drop-goal as Andy Robinson’s regime never got close to the achievements of their predecessors.
But with Ashton promising to unshackle a backline that also included a returning Jason Robinson the Twickenham faithful arrived at HQ hoping for a feast.
That Wilkinson delivered despite the weight of a nation on his shoulders was no surprise. But the total dominance of his performance belied a man who had played barely 40 minutes of competitive rugby in the previous three months.
His 27 points were a record haul for the Calcutta Cup and Wilkinson completed the full house with a drop-goal and a controversial try to go with his customary immaculate place-kicking.
Before the joy there had been pain, hours of rehab in the gym healing injuries all over his body.
And so it was that in the game… Wilkinson had to give blood to the cause before his crowning glory, a gash to his lip spattering his shirt and later needing 14 stitches.
But at the post-match media interviews, Wilkinson’s bloodied mouth burst into a smile as he relived a masterful performance in typically modest fashion.
“It’s what I live for,” he said. “I was really pleased to be back in the Test environment. I just try to give an acceptable performance so I don’t go into the regret zone.
“I know as well as anyone that these things can be taken away very quickly.”
His scrum-half partner that day, Harry Ellis, remembers it was not just the fans who were enjoying the return of England’s favourite son.
“It was his first game since the World Cup final and that meant I had never played with him before,” says Ellis.
“I had gone up against him in the club game plenty of times but we had never paired up for England.
“I was really looking forward to building an understanding with him and that training camp up in Bedford before the start of the tournament was fantastic.
“No disrespect to Charlie Hodgson or Andy Goode because I was lucky to start out for England with those two great players.
“Jonny had that aura though, that total confidence and reassurance that made it great to be around him. He’s like a quarter-back in American Football in the sense that he is always in total control of the game.
“I just wanted to make sure that we had a good playing relationship and we clicked straight away.
“There was a burden of expectation, as there always is for an England rugby team but none more so than Jonny in his first game back.
“Of course Jonny coming back was the big story, there was a lot of media interest but we didn’t care about all of that. When you’re with England the only thing that matters is the team.
“It just made us all that little bit closer, you’re professional and try to get rid of all distractions.”
Frank Hadden’s Scotland side were the Calcutta Cup holders after withstanding the wind and rain at Murrayfield in 2006 to emerge 18-12 victors.
And while the final score 12 months on would suggest a mauling, the truth is England had to work hard before the prodigal son could have his moment.

It was not just Wilkinson who was re-connecting with his adoring fans as Robinson, switched to the left wing, was back in action.
On top of that a certain Andy Farrell was one of three debutants for England, the others being Tom Rees at flanker and Olly Morgan at full-back.
Robinson finished with two tries while Farrell and Tindall’s centre partnership promised much – but even so Scotland were put to bed only in the final quarter.
Indeed full-back Chris Paterson’s post match comments tell you all you need to know about how close the encounter had been.
“The scoreline is almost identical to the previous three times I’ve played here but I can seriously say that’s the closest I’ve felt,” he said.
Ellis, who had 15 caps before that game and would only go on to claim 12 more before a knee injury forced him to retire at 28, agreed with his rival’s assessment.
“Games against Scotland are always tight, very physical and although we racked up the points in the end, we certainly had to earn the right to win that game,” he said.
“For the first half hour it was very close. I remember them scoring a rubbish try that got them going. We made the mess of a lineout and the ball bounced away from me and into Simon Taylor’s arms and he went over.
“But after Jason’s try in the left-hand corner we were up and running.
“That was a great first try for Brian’s reign, he wanted us to play heads up rugby, getting the ball wide where possible and getting the backs firing.
“That’s what Brian’s famous for so it was nice that the first try of the game came the way it did, going through the hands before Jason slid over in the corner.”
Wilkinson’s early reminder to the crowd that his skills had not waned came courtesy of a snap drop-goal and when Robinson glided over the pressure noticeably lifted around South West London.
For Farrell, now a coach with England and the British and Irish Lions, there was little you could do at times than just applaud his teammate who was having ‘one of those days’.
“I stood in awe of Jonny at times when he was taking the kicks at goal, especially with the pressure he must have been under,” remembers debutant Farrell.
“Jonny likes to do a bit of everything. He likes to get stuck in and get a lot of defensive work done – I found him at the bottom of rucks a few times – but the way he controlled the game was sensational.
“It is always very hard for your first game back not to try to do too much, and he let everyone else play as well.”

It was a complete performance that included a try for the fly-half, although it was a score that owed as much to the generosity of the video judge as to Wilkinson’ own genius.
Quite how Donal Courtney, the Irish television match official, failed to spot that Wilkinson’s foot was in touch is a mystery to all, including Ellis who was a menace all game long, making line breaks as the game opened up.
“Jonny’s try was just one of those things really,” he added.
“I mean it wasn’t a try was it! I made a break down the right, offloaded to him and he went over in the corner in what looked like an impossible angle.
“It turned out his toe was definitely in touch but this is Jonny isn’t it? He deserved that bit of luck and you have to take them when they come.
“Jonny had 27 points in the game, he was always going to be the man of the match and rightly so.
“A lot of people played very well in that game and from a personal point of view it was one of those days where it just clicked.
“Sometimes you can go a whole game with no line breaks but on that day I just felt good, it was probably my best performance for England.
“But it was made a lot easier for me because of the threat being posed by people like Jonny outside me, that was making the space for me around the fringes.
“It’s so important to get momentum going in a tournament like the Six Nations and we were delighted to have done that.”
The Ashton regime was up and running, indeed the man himself summed up the game perfectly when he commented: “It’s a brand new start, it’s a new team. We had to find a starting point and I think we found that starting point today.”
With his selectorial instincts gloriously vindicated he praised his returning No.10. “He’s a world-class rugby player. In either code he would be a world-class player.”
For Ellis, who missed the run to the World Cup final after his first career-threatening knee injury later that season, admitted that former Bath coach Ashton had reinvigorated a struggling England side.
“Brian was one of the best coaches I worked with in my whole career,” he remembers.
“We were training in Bedford before that Six Nations because I think it was just round the corner from his house!
“But it was good to have a change from London and Pennyhill Park, although it was quite a drive for me from Leicester.
“There were a lot of new faces in that side, as well as some returning familiar ones.
“Brian liked the players to take ownership of the team, to give them the independence to go out and express themselves.
“Before he took over with England I had worked with him a couple of times at age-group level so I had a good relationship with him.
“He was always about giving the players belief and we were all looking forward to working with him.”
Phil Vickery was skipper of this new England side that welcomed Italy the week after and won again, Wilkinson’s 15 points with the boot adding to yet another Robinson try.
Hopes were now raised of a potential Grand Slam, the first in four years and once again coming in a World Cup year.
But those hopes went up in smoke at Croke Park as they were handed a 43-13 mauling by a pumped up Ireland before being unpicked 27-18 by an inspired James Hook at the Millennium Stadium.
“We may not have won that Six Nations in the end but Brian’s changes were good for the side,” added Ellis.
“His reign was a real success and you must remember that we got to a World Cup final under his charge later that year so he must be have been doing something right.”
But Ellis was not playing in that famous run to the final in France, the first career-threatening injury of his life had occurred just weeks before the tournament in Leicester’s Premiership play-off clash with Bristol.
Indeed those first three matches in the Six Nations were the half-back pairing’s sole international appearances together – Wilkinson missing the last two with yet another injury due to the effects of a cramp that forced him off in the Premiership defeat to London Irish.
But they will always have that famous day at Twickenham with Ellis on the charge and Wilkinson the Lord of the Manor once again.
“We played another couple of games together after that but it is frustrating that we did not get to play together more” admits Ellis.
“But it’s just one of those things, it’s professional sport and injuries happen all the time, although Jonny and I certainly had more than our fair share.
“You have to make the most of the time you get and Jonny and I certainly did that in our three games.
“That applies to all my England caps and I look back on all of them very fondly, it was a privilege to play with those guys.”