There is little doubt that the win over Australia on Saturday must be thought of as a turning point for England. To be able to compete and to win against a southern-hemisphere team is significant. There is no luck involved. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are in outstanding form at the moment. They do not give you victories, you have to earn them.
We did.

For me it was a little strange going back to the stadium where we won the World Cup seven years ago. I had a look around on Friday before the game when I went to practise kicking. It took me about 20 seconds to work out which end it was. I recognised the changing rooms from the Lions tour in 2001 as well as the World Cup. It was a little bit of a trip down memory lane.

Coming off the bench is quite challenging. You get a little respite on the nerves beforehand because you know you have to hold back on your usual preparations. You can’t be buzzing from minute one, if you peak, the energy you need is spent.

But you do not know when you might be coming on so you have to stay alert, watching every breakdown, looking to see if everyone is all right. As someone who likes to be in control of the match for as much as I can, being on the bench means a hell of a lot goes out of the window.

Converting that penalty in the 53rd minute to make it 21-20 was satisfying. When you get an opportunity you have to go for it. It was nice because these things carry an effect into the game momentum-wise. Looking at the opposition being behind with ten minutes remaining is very different from having to chase the game.

I would like to trust my knowledge of the game after the amount of work I have put into it and you know when you have the makings of a good team. We do.

I have seen it for a while and you have to trust your instinct that you are not wrong.

You can see it in the guys. When we have said in press conferences that you have to learn from defeats, it is exactly that. After a while these things have to fall into place and they did. For us, however, it is not the end of the learning, but we know the process is right. After the first Test, which we lost 27-17 in Perth, we knew we had let ourselves down.

One or two players have also come on. Ben Youngs at scrum half in his first full game knows what needs to be done and is beginning to lead by example. Same deal with Courtney Lawes.

With the World Cup in New Zealand only a little more than a year away the bits are falling into place even if the public did not believe it. Now it is up to us to develop.
The Times

English goal kicking ace Jonny Wilkinson sympathised with Wallaby star Matt Giteau after Australia’s usually reliable sharp shooter suffered an untimely meltdown in the second Test at ANZ Stadium.

Giteau landed his first three shots at goal on Saturday night, but missed four of his next five, including one from in front in the final quarter.

Wilkinson, who broke Australian hearts with his kicking exploits in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, drove another stake into Wallaby hearts by kicking what was the match-winning penalty with just under half an hour remaining.

Although he has earned a reputation as one of the world’s most reliable big-game goalkickers, Wilkinson admitted he too had endured his share of painful misses and he understood what Giteau was going through.

“There’s nothing harder than to stand up each week and take the shots and when that (missing from in front) happens, which it does to everyone, it takes even more strength to stand up and go on,” Wilkinson told reporters.

“And something he (Giteau) does is stands up and goes on every time.

“It’s just one of those things that happens once in a very very blue moon, and when it does it’s tough to take.

“I’ve done it more times that he has.

“Fair play to him, he’s an enormous professional, an awesome player and he showed that today regardless of whether he kicked another one.”

Although he appeared to collect a knock shortly before his fateful miss, Giteau refused to make excuses for the almost inexplicable off-target shot.

“It’s not my proudest moment, but these things happen. You’ve just got to move forward,” Giteau said.

He confirmed he was prepared to hand over the goal kicking duties to fullback James O’Connor, but Australia didn’t get another shot.

He started the night striking the ball smoothly.

Asked whether he changed anything later in the game, Giteau said: “Same approach but possibly a little bit tired, I don’t know, I’m not too sure.”

Source: The Roar

Jonny Wilkinson returned to haunt Australia and seal England another famous victory at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
Seven years after landing the drop-goal that won England the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Wilkinson came off the bench to once again kick the decisive points.

England had taken a half-time lead with maiden Test tries from Ben Youngs and Chris Ashton but Australia hit back with Matt Giteau scoring twice in a 20-point haul.

Wilkinson replaced Toby Flood early in the second half – and his first act was to land the penalty that pushed England ahead.

England had not won in the southern hemisphere since that World Cup final and this was only their third Test victory over the Wallabies on Australian soil.

England manager Martin Johnson was captain for the two victories in 2003 – but his regime was under increasing pressure coming into the game following last week’s 27-17 defeat.

England managed to turn rugby’s received wisdom on its head last week by losing despite enjoying unbroken dominance in the scrum.

Johnson gave the dynamic duo of Northampton lock Courtney Lawes and Leicester scrum-half Youngs their first Test starts and they brought pace and variety into England’s attack.

Flood kicked England into a third minute lead after Lewis Moody had hunted down Australia fly-half Quade Cooper and forced him into a mistake under pressure.

The Wallabies showed early signs of an improvement in the scrum and when things got feisty between the two front rows, Tim Payne was penalised for throwing a punch allowing Giteau to level the scores.

England were playing with more pace and Shontayne Hape’s offload sent Ashton away but Mike Tindall tried an ambitious flick and the ball went to ground.

After some more sharp play from Youngs, England drove towards the line but Australia’s powerful winger Digby Ioane ripped the ball clear.

Ben Foden was trying to counter-attack from deep but he lost the ball in the tackle and when Youngs conceded the penalty in an attempt to recover the situation, Giteau nudged Australia ahead.

But England resumed the ascendancy five minutes later when Youngs marked his full debut with a sparkling individual try.

Tom Croft tapped the ball down from the top of the lineout, Youngs burst through a gap and then rounded Drew Mitchell to score his first Test try. Flood made no mistake with the conversion.

The Wallabies responded almost immediately through Giteau, who finished off a blistering move from the back of a rock-solid Australian scrum.

England’s midfield were sucked in by dummy-runners and Cooper fed Ioane who had come off his wing to slice clear before passing inside for Giteau to run under the posts.

Hape and Ashton, the two former rugby league players, were providing good continuity in attack as England built the pressure and then struck again.

Ashton popped up on Tom Palmer’s shoulder and took the inside ball before rounding James O’Connor and holding off Ioane to score his first Test try.

While England were building pressure through phases, the Wallabies looked to strike early and Ioane carved England open before Croft closed down centre Rob Horne and almost stole the ball.

Referee Romain Poite spotted hands in the ruck but Giteau sent the penalty wide and then hit the post with another effort.

The last time Australia came back from a half-time deficit to beat England was in 1975 – but they set about their task immediately after the restart with another devastating attack.

There was a suspicion of a knock-on from Genia at the base of the ruck but the officials saw nothing and Cooper unleashed O’Connor down the right.

The Australia full-back drew Ashton and with Foden stranded Mitchell sent Giteau over for his second try of the game.

Flood reduced the arrears with his second penalty after referee Poite penalised the under-pressure Wallaby front row for going straight to ground.

Wilkinson replaced Flood after 49 minutes and his first action was to drill a 40-metre kick and put England back ahead after the Wallabies front row was penalised again.

Australia drove their way into the 22 but England’s defence was much better organised than in Perth and they not only held firm but rucked over the ball to snatch a key turnover.

Adam Ashley-Cooper was on for the Wallabies and he broke into the England 22 and Thompson was penalised for offside at the ruck when it appeared the ball was out.

Thompson will have felt that justice was done when Giteau made a hash of the kick – but there was worse to come from the Wallaby fly-half when he missed his next effort from straight in front of the posts.

Replacement Wallaby prop James Slipper appeared to indicate that he had been eye-gouged after another scrum went down and ended in a front row scuffle.

Croft burgled a brilliant turnover and then won a penalty after being challenged in the air at the lineout.
Wilkinson pushed the kick wide but there was no time for Australia to come back and England had sealed a famous victory.

Source: Telegraph

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS is destined to play Tests for the All Blacks, believes his former Toulon teammate and English five-eighth Jonny Wilkinson.

While playing together at the French Top 14 club, Wilkinson was astounded by the former NRL star’s physicality and adaptation to rugby – especially when Williams played at inside centre.

The former Canterbury Bulldogs player took a huge step up in his rugby career last week when he signed an 18-month deal with the New Zealand Rugby Union, placing him in line to be selected for next year’s World Cup.
‘I think he will go brilliantly. He was outstanding for Toulon and played really well,” Wilkinson said. ”It was a real pleasure and a massive learning curve for me as well.

”His strength is his strength – his ability to keep the ball alive, his physicality, his ball movement and game awareness in space and people around him. I’ve not seen the likes of him before.

”Just watching the guy being able to ride tackles, even if it means sticking your arms in the air and being able to ride tackles in the ribs. He gets hurt, but never seems to go backwards.”

Asked if he felt Williams would become a Test player, Wilkinson said: ”I think he definitely will.”

As for Williams’s best position? Wilkinson said: ”It is about finding the best way to use him. It will be about getting used to the guys around him and them getting used to him.”

Meanwhile, Wilkinson hosed down speculation that he may pursue a playing future in Australia with the Melbourne Rebels Super 15 side.

”I’d never count that out. But it’s not something I’ve thought too much about. I’m very, very happy where I am,” he said.

”The country is fabulous, the people are great and the sport is something to behold. But I’m enormously happy where I am.”

Source SMH.com

England coach Martin Johnson has made some confusing decisions on this tour, writes Tim Horan.

I don’t know what England coach Martin Johnson is trying to achieve in leaving Jonny Wilkinson on the bench again for the second Test against the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday night.

Johnson should have picked the man who broke Australian hearts in the 2003 World Cup final and it’s a decision he’s likely to regret.

Wilkinson would provide more stability to this English team, give them a fear factor, and have the Wallabies thinking about his presence in the backline during the 24-hour countdown to the game.

And I don’t base my opinion on what Jonny did seven years ago at the same ground.

His form simply warrants selection.

He’s played well with Toulon for the past 12 months.

I know insiders at the French club and they say he’s in good shape, carrying no injuries and is close to his best form.

Jonny should be starting for England, together with the man who will wear the No.10 jumper, Toby Flood.

One of them could have played at inside centre and, in tandem, they would have given England two ball players as the Australians will have with Quade Cooper at No.10 and Matt Giteau at No.12.

Wilkinson has the ability to ignite this England backline.

He has a presence and a passing game that would lift them for sure, as well as the ability to provide field position via his boot and capitalise on those territory gains by accumulating points.

Johnson’s decision, and those he’s made earlier on this tour, are confusing.

Jonny hasn’t played in either touring match against the Australian Barbarians and he got five minutes in the first Test last weekend.

What was the point in even bringing him out?

If they were going to put him in cotton wool, or simply overlook him, then England might as well have left him at home.

So who have they picked?

Shontayne Hape will wear the No.12 jersey alongside Flood.

This is the same player who I think made three tackles in the first Test, missed a crucial one when Luke Burgess put Quade Cooper across for a try, and from memory ran the ball once.

It’s fair to say he didn’t show a lot.

So if you were the England coach, wouldn’t you pick Wilkinson ahead of a rookie like Shontayne Hape?

SMH>com

IT HAS confounded many that Jonny Wilkinson has been omitted from England’s starting side for tomorrow night’s Test against Australia at ANZ Stadium, where he cruelled the Wallabies’ 2003 World Cup dream.

But Wilkinson happily accepted the fact that his return to the field on which he kicked the World Cup-wining drop goal in the 99th minute would be from the bench.

Wilkinson, 31, even said he hoped Toby Flood, who has kept him out of the No.10 jersey, would play the game of his life after an eye-catching performance in last week’s 27-17 Test loss in Perth.
Flood and inside-centre Shontayne Hape kept their places in the English run-on side named yesterday, despite speculation they might not. The only new inclusions were Ben Youngs at halfback for Danny Care, and second-rower Courtney Lawes for the evergreen Simon Shaw.

Wilkinson, who was also mooted as an option to play at No.12 outside Flood, could hardly contain his enthusiasm as a virtual mentor to the English pivot. As he speaks, he sounds not like an English rugby icon who most expect should be desperate to resume his place on the mantel, but more like an older brother egging on his younger sibling. ”I want the best of him to come out. My sole aim is to make sure he is 100 per cent happy and 100 per cent capable of playing. Life is too short to want for anything else of someone,” he said.

Asked if it was hard to will on a player who stood in his way, he said: ”It is, but it’s just a choice … It doesn’t mean I don’t want to play, that I don’t want that any less.”

Wilkinson said Flood, 24, could take a lot from playing at No.10 against the Wallabies last week. ”There will be things in there that we know we were close to achieving and things we found very difficult,” Wilkinson said of the Leicester Tiger’s first start against Australia in a 30-Test career.

”I know what it’s like out there. The thing I saw most was that the first half was tough. I know what that tough situation is like. You feel under pressure, so you need to try and kick and there’s nowhere to kick to. But in the second half I thought he did excellent, he did a great job.

”I don’t think he needs to do anything different. He has all the skills in the box, all the decision-making abilities. After being under pressure last week, I think he will be awesome.”

Wilkinson again played down the emotion of returning to the same stadium where, as a 24 year-old, he kicked England to World Cup glory with a plumb drop goal in extra time. ”I can’t remember which end it happened … it’s lost in a blur,” he said, but still understands why so many teammates in that epic finale against the Wallabies may remember every second.

”For a lot of the guys … they were coming to the latter part of their careers and then the career stops and that is something you do remember. For me, the choice was obvious. I wanted to move on and that meant the next game. I tried to put it behind me as soon as possible.”

But amazingly, it is only now – seven years on – that Wilkinson feels he is ready to really forge ahead. His career since that World Cup victory has been plagued by so many injuries that this season – with French club Toulon and England – is the first full one he has played since 2003.

”I’ve been desperate to get the one season under my belt … of club rugby, just to know week in, week out about learning. And learning will eventually get me to where I want to be,” he said.

As for the current England side that is trying to find its way back onto the pathway of success, Wilkinson believes the direction it must take will be clear after tomorrow night’s Test in Sydney.

”It’s good to have general points – everyone wants to win, everyone wants to put everything in,” he said. ”But finding the best environment is going to come with [playing] game after game. The key is to respond to last week. How we respond will have a big factor on where we go next.”
Source:SMH>com