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English rugby’s golden boy, Jonny Wilkinson, speaks for the first time about the agonising decision of international retirement, the influences on his career and what the future holds.

In the early autumn of 2010, Jonny Wilkinson sat at his home in Southern France and knew something did not feel right. In the company of his partner, mother and father, arguably one of the greatest players in rugby’s history was beginning to wrestle with thoughts of international retirement.

The professional career of England’s iconic fly-half had since it began in the late 1990s been blighted by almost relentlessly cruel injuries, but it was also driven by the constant pursuit of perfection and was crowned by that drop-goal against Australia in the 2003 World Cup final. However, just over one year ago, the unflinchingly-committed Wilkinson was beginning to realise the environment in which he had existed was changing around him.

On the back of promising autumn internationals in 2009, he had scored 50 points at the 2010 Six Nations. But England only finished third in the competition and Wilkinson then had to watch from the bench as successor-in-waiting Toby Flood helped to draw a two-Test series against Australia in Perth and Sydney. Wilkinson started to consider whether his own ambitions could still coexist with the best interests of his nation’s team.

The now-32-year-old’s will to win meant he buried the doubts in the latter months of 2010, but it was only temporary. The former Newcastle star earlier this December announced he was calling it a day with England in order to concentrate on his commitments at club level with Toulon.

International retirement sadly signified that 13 years, 91 caps and 1,246 points were concluded by the notorious debacle of England’s 2011 World Cup campaign. It was far from a fitting finale, but it was not a knee-jerk reaction.

“After the 2009 season, I came back and did the autumn internationals and felt fabulous,” said a candid Wilkinson in an exclusive interview with skysports.com as he reflected on the tough decision of his retirement for the first time in the public domain.

“We lost to Australia and New Zealand, but we beat Argentina.They were good games. I just felt so good. After all the injuries, I felt brilliant. That was probably the last time I felt those conditions were there – it just happened to work. But in the 2010 Six Nations, things seemed to turn around and it was the first time I had ever been hugely confused about everything. I couldn’t work out why or how and it didn’t make sense to me.

“Followed by the tour of Australia, where Toby did very well, I was asking myself the question. That is the moment I remember. I was sat at home in France with my other half and my mum and dad before the autumn internationals in 2010, trying to work out what was happening in my life and trying to work out why rugby was suddenly not feeling simple anymore.

“The decision was clear to me that I really felt I had more to do and to prove. (But) after the 2011 World Cup, there was no moment. It gradually built up and there were times when I felt it was probably right. Other times, when I would come back from a day of training with Toulon, I would think, ‘There is no way I can give up the opportunity to do this’. But then slowly and surely as it wore on, the right and more honest decision came out. There was also a danger of getting selfish about it and trying to prove something to myself instead of saying, ‘What is going to help England go forward so that they can celebrate again?’.”

Wilkinson will fly back to England for Christmas after Toulon’s match against Lyon on Friday night and he will spend the time with his family before returning across The Channel on Boxing Day. It will be the first time in more than a decade he celebrates the festive period without international thoughts and an eye on the coming February’s Six Nations. He will instead be concentrating on preparing for a club game at Biarritz on New Year’s Eve.

Difficult

“I started to realise that the last few years with England had been a combination of me searching for the best of me, as always, but also trying to understand the conditions around me in the squad,” the 2007 World Cup finalist explained. “That’s not what people are doing or who is there or anything like that – it is more just a feeling. Trying to fit in with it. Trying to fit in and find the best of me, and make those two things work together. That has been the whole goal. That has been everything I have put my energy towards.

“For some reason, it has now seemed to be simpler for somebody else to be doing it. That is what happens and it became evident to me. I do like to always think that I know what I can do and that I know what I am capable of. I am still capable of doing that and I am aiming to do that with Toulon and do it better and better.”

Wilkinson did not go through the torment of deciding on his retirement without consulting with people who knew him both as a rugby player and as a friend.

“In that period after 2010, I spoke to people like Mike Catt, Richard Hill and Will Greenwood,” he remembered. “These guys were people in rugby who I felt understood me. These guys could understand beyond what I could do on the field and look more at how I behaved, how I lived life as an individual, how intense and how somewhat irrationally I looked at things every now and again. How capable I was of getting obsessive, counter-productive and a bit destructive.

“To speak to those guys was important, because they had also chosen to move on after rugby. They gave me balanced arguments for looking at it both ways. Ultimately it comes down to the same thing – how you feel, what you want, whether you can make a difference to the team.”

And what of England’s embarrassing World Cup, which was the final curtain of Wilkinson’s international career? A failure to succeed on the field combined with the headline-grabbing antics of the likes of Mike Tindall, Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi brought the squad home from New Zealand in disgrace. Manager Martin Johnson resigned and a mass shake-up of the Rugby Football Union is ongoing.

Wilkinson has preferred to avoid the direct fallout from the events of September and October and would instead like to focus on watching the potential of his country under the interim coaching of Stuart Lancaster.
“It is difficult to say, because I have not seen a lot of the stuff that has come out after the World Cup,” said Wilkinson when asked if he thought some of his squad-mates did not match his personally high standards of behaviour and performance. “I don’t read the papers. I have heard a few comments and heard what people have been saying. I didn’t recognise at all anything there in that respect in the way people were training or giving to the cause. It was a massively concerted effort from everyone.

“I think it is the deeper part as well, that do-or-die scenario which comes with the World Cup, which I am used to. You get one every four years and it may be your only one. I have been fortunate enough to do four World Cups and each one had felt like almost the end of the world – every game, every training session. You are on borrowed time and you know you are dealing with things which will change the rest of your life and the lives of those around you. That is how you see it.

“I don’t know what all the comments are (about England), but playing for your team needs to be the be all and end all. The biggest basic in rugby is to just run until you drop. It just has to supersede everything else that comes with playing rugby – whether that is sponsorship, being paid or opportunities that come elsewhere. Those things are great and add colour to life, but they come massively secondary to getting out there and making a difference to the team.

Blessed

“The ability and talent that these guys have is going to come out and it is going to do wonders for the game of rugby in England. Hopefully it will be the exact opposite reaction to the one which has come out of the last World Cup.”

Tributes have poured in for Wilkinson since he decided to hang up his international kicking boots. The choice does not appear to have diminished his popularity and he will forever be English rugby’s golden boy. Indeed, long-term sponsors Gillette are continuing their partnership, which provides an indication of his standing in the public eye

The brand’s manager, Jared Regan, said: “Jonny has achieved at the highest level and always acts with integrity. Jonny is one of the greatest rugby players, even sportsmen, this country has ever produced and we are very proud to be associated with him on Gillette. He perfectly embodies the values we stand for and we are very excited about how we can work with Jonny as he moves into this next stage of his career.”

Wilkinson has himself been deeply touched by the level of support and praise he has received from fans and media around the world. But he could be forgiven for feeling aggrieved by the manner in which his international retirement has somewhat overshadowed his ongoing career at Toulon, where he recently extended his contract until 2013. That, though, is not the case.

“It is up to people to see it how they want,” said Wilkinson. “I have been blessed with some of the responses of support since I made the decision. It has blown me away. I can’t begin to stress how stupidly fortunate and privileged a position it puts me in.

“In a similar vein, the way that I have been supported through my career with Newcastle and England, it is beyond belief. It is like being in a dream world. With Toulon as well, the kind of support is ludicrous.”

But Wilkinson is not one to dwell on past achievements. He is looking towards the future and fulfilling his ambitions in France.

“I cannot express how serious or intense I am about this next stage of my life,” he said. “There is no stepping down for me. Every game I play has to be the very best of me. As a child, I made a pact with myself that every time I took to the field, even as an eight-year-old, I felt like it was my World Cup final.

“Playing for Newcastle, every game was like playing for England. Every game, every piece of preparation, I wanted to be an England player. I said to myself, ‘Every time I take to the field, it is as if I am an England player’. I wanted to be not just an England player, but the best of England and the best of the world. That is what resides with me know.

“There is no step down. It is only a step up. The step forward is to get better. I am so, so excited about that and so the intensity is not going anywhere. It might just mean that I have a tiny bit more free time and no games while the boys do their stuff at the Six Nations.”

Skysports.com

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Jonny Wilkinson kicked five penalties as Toulon strengthened their grip on third place in the table with a 20-15 victory over Lyon at the Stade Felix-Mayol.

The former England fly-half struck three times during the opening period, with fullback Romain Loursac on target twice for the visitors, who did well to reach the interval just three points adrift given they had had prop Philemon Tolefoa sent to the sin bin on the half-hour mark.

Loursac levelled matters just over 60 seconds into the second half but Toulon winger Alexis Palisson then cruised over on 47 minutes for the only try of the game shortly after Lyon’s Alipate Fatafehi had been shown a yellow card.

Wilkinson failed to convert Palisson’s score but he responded every time Loursac drew Lyon to within striking distance and Toulon eked out a crucial victory.

Scrum.com

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jonnywilkinson.com

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Don’t worry, this is not purely another Jonny Wilkinson eulogy. They’ve been done to death, and he’s deserved every last scrap of the veneration.

But I just thought I’d mention something that was often lost in the rush for deification last week: Wilkinson has not retired.

He has retired from international rugby, which is not quite the same thing. He is still a professional rugby player. Just signed a one-year contract extension at Toulon no less. Last Saturday he captained them to victory against his old side, Newcastle, in the Amlin Challenge Cup. Presumably he will be playing against Lyon in the French Top 14 this Friday night.

But there is no presumption required in stating that he will still be training like a maniac every day, still undergoing kicking practice until les vaches come home.
Those advising Wilkinson to enjoy his retirement are wasting their words. It is not over yet. The pipe and slippers must wait for now.

And herein lies the fascination. How will Wilkinson cope without the lure of international rugby? The former England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher always described the drop from international to domestic cricket as being like “the chief executive going to work on the shop floor”. Doing it intermittently can be tough; doing it permanently must be even tougher.

In cricket Nasser Hussain simply could not face the grind of county cricket. He did finish with a Test century at Lord’s, mind, but still he said: “I don’t think I would have had the fire to carry on, and I have never done anything unless I wanted to do it to the best of my ability.”

Michael Vaughan tearfully resigned the England captaincy and then tried to grind his way back into the side in the shires. He soon conceded defeat. Part of him had died. And part of Wilkinson has now died too.

As he said in his retirement announcement on his own website: “I never ever believed that I would be able to give up on this dream which has driven me to live, breathe, love and embrace the game of rugby from the earliest days that I can remember.”

He clearly knows that this might be a problem. “I certainly have no intention of letting this decision change the way that I approach my training and preparation for games. In fact early indication shows me that I’m actually getting more intense about it,” he wrote.

Maybe if anyone can, Wilkinson can. There were a telling couple of lines in Will Greenwood’s encomium in these pages last week: “No matter how long a session was, he [Wilkinson] would do each drill as if it was the only one, giving his all each and every time. I still don’t know how do you do that.”

It is a shame that Wilkinson did not have a fairy-tale send-off, like, say, Wales’s Shane Williams did against Australia. But then England did not have a little cash cow onto which Wilkinson could leap. Instead they just had a bucking bronco, from which administrators, coaches and players have been hurled in a post-World Cup shemozzle.

But Wilkinson was not thrown off. He chose his time to dismount carefully and understatedly. He had earned the right to announce his international retirement. The greats can do that. Too many D-listers think they can do the same when really they should shut up and face non-selection with grace.

Wilkinson would have been dropped. I did not see his name in any long-range England side for the forthcoming Six Nations. But he deserved to depart on his terms.
Sporting retirement, especially in cricket, has certainly changed over the years. Each year I write the retirements’ page for the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

It is becoming ever harder. When is a cricketer retired now? There I was this year merrily penning Martin van Jaarsveld’s cricketing obituary after he had turned down a previously agreed move from Kent to Leicestershire. He had retired, I thought. But then it emerged that he was still playing for the Titans in South Africa. He had only retired from county cricket! For goodness’ sake.

The truth is that old cricketers don’t retire any more. Not properly anyway. Most simply go to a better place in the sky to play Twenty20.

Now rugby players just go to France, it seems. In Toulon Wilkinson deserves the money and the lifestyle, but please don’t expect him to enjoy the rugby. For obsessive perfectionists like him it’s far too serious for that.

Telegraph

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NEWCASTLE Falcons’ Amlin Challenge Cup ambitions came a cropper on the French Riviera last night as Toulon went two points clear at the top of their group.

Former Falcons Jonny Wilkinson and Carl Hayman were at the heart of a dominant home display as they erased all memory of last week’s Kingston Park loss.

It was all Toulon in the opening exchanges, with a red and black wave engulfing the Falcons inside their own 22.

Wilkinson turned down an early shot at goal in favour of the attacking line-out and, despite Newcastle eventually clearing their lines, the sheer volume of pressure coming their way was utterly unsustainable.

An all-in brawl, in the best traditions of French rugby, offered a second attempt at goal, and the former Falcons hero made no mistake from in front of the posts for an eighth-minute lead.

Skipper James Hudson grabbed the initiative with a line-out steal as slack discipline at a ruck on the 22 allowed Jeremy Manning to level matters with a straightforward penalty, but Toulon were back in front almost straight from the restart.

It took the video referee to award it, but there was ultimately no doubting that centre Geoffroy Messina had grounded the ball just inside the right corner flag after a midfield quick tap saw play worked wide.

Wilkinson’s touchline conversion curled wide on the cross-wind to miss its target, and the hosts were enjoying the rub of the green as a certain cry for a Newcastle penalty-try was amazingly turned down despite full-back Benjamin Lapeyre deliberately tapping the ball dead in-goal.

Will Welch forced a Wilkinson knock-on with a crunching hit on his former team-mate, but the French lead hit double figures as Christian Loamanu took two tacklers over the line with him for a try down the left.

The giant Japanese international winger made it two tries in three minutes with a 50-metre burst along the opposite flank from turnover ball, with Wilkinson’s conversion giving Toulon a 22-3 interval advantage.

The four-try bonus point was next on their Christmas shopping list, and it duly arrived four minutes after the resumption as Welsh prop Eiffion Lewis-Roberts rumbled over from a rolling maul.

Damage limitation was now Newcastle’s aim, but there was little of that in evidence as Kiwi wing David Smith collected a floated pass to race in for the sixth in the right corner.

Corne Uys managed a well-deserved consolation try via the video referee after latching on to Welch’s line-break, but by that stage hopes of reining in their hosts were long gone.

Sundaysun

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Former England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has agreed a one-year contract extension with Top 14 Orange high-flyers Toulon.

The 32-year-old playmaker announced his retirement from international rugby on Monday, having scored 1179 points across 91 caps for England.

Wilkinson moved to the south of France in 2009 from long-time club Newcastle and he has now chosen to exercise the optional final year on his contract, which will see him remain at the Stade Mayol until the end of the 2012-13 season.

“For me now, I will continue to focus ever harder on my goal of being the very best I can be with Toulon, and continue to embrace and enjoy wherever that path takes me,” he said when confirming his Test retirement.

The former British & Irish Lion was back in the saddle for his club side – who sit third in the league – as they saw off Agen in midweek, kicking four penalties in a 34-12 success.

Scrum.com

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I’ve always thought of Jonny Wilkinson as a crackpot. I still do and it’s the way he goes about things that sets him out of the ordinary.

The lad was born with talent, and there can be no doubt about the gifts he was given. But that is only part of the story. His brilliance was achieved through his dedication to his craft.

He worked harder than anyone to maximise his talent, even to the point that his own physical and mental wellbeing came into question.

When the rest of England’s players were already deep in their baths, Dave Alred, the kicking coach, would drive his car onto the pitch so that Jonny could keep practising in the beams of his headlights. In terms of running he would do the drills and switch off his brain to pain.

When others were limping off after heavy contact sessions he was just getting warmed up. No matter how long a session was he would do each drill as if it was the only one, giving his all each and every time. I still don’t know how do you do that.

His actions off the field, just as much as his points scoring on it, had a profound effect on the people around him. You were amazed and felt a little frightened by his focus but damned if you didn’t want to try and do better at the same time.

And just as he lifted you by his actions he also tried hard to make you see the game his way. In the England camp he would always give a presentation on the Friday before the final team run. It was fascinating to see the way his brain worked in coloured markers and flip charts.

The pitch was drawn perfectly, his handwriting any teacher would die for. His talks were always 15 minutes long and by the time they were over the whole team knew exactly what was happening on any given area of the field at any given time.

I may not have agreed with him on all of it, but I certainly understood what was needed. And no matter what I may have thought tactically he would usually do something remarkable and shoot my arguments down by his sheer will to succeed.

People will always talk about the World Cup but in my view the best example of Jonny’s skills was in the Grand Slam decider in March 2003. He was fly-half perfection.
He made plus 20 tackles, covered the field like a flanker, nailed his penalties and conversions like a marksman, was inch perfect with his kicks from hand and dropped goals, off each foot into and against the wind.

But with Jonny, the playing part of the game was only part of the puzzle. He really was the first proper rugby heart-throb of the professional era and it didn’t always sit easily.

His drive for success on the field and hunt for perfection was called obsessive behaviour off it; his ability to command and direct the show during the game sometimes meant he felt a little helpless outside of it; and his role as leading man and fancy dan was a difficult fit for someone who loves their privacy. Ironically, as he has found more happiness and balance off the field so his game at the highest level has creaked.

But if I am honest, who could begrudge him that and when I have seen him in his new setting of the South of France he seems a much happier person. When I first met up with him in Toulon he was on a basketball court taking part in what looked like a rugby all stars match.

Flinging the ball about were Pierre Mignoni, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, and Joe van Niekerk. Felipe Contepomi was watching. Jonny was in amongst them, smile on his face.

In the lead up to that meeting the years had given more injuries than smiles, but here he was explaining that the move to France was all about playing for himself and not embarrassed that his hair was longer and his guitar playing was improving. Rugby was important and less important all at the same time.

I have two memories that should tell you everything that matters about Jonny. When that final whistle went after that dropped goal in 2003 I found myself jumping up and down with the man who would become a national icon.

At that moment you see two mates just jumping around like overgrown kids. It is the pure joy of sport and friendship and it is Jonny at his best. There is no guard or fear, you just see someone happy because they did what they could and they delivered for their team when it mattered.

The second memory comes courtesy of my wife who was in hospital during the World Cup when we had come close to losing our now seven-year-old son Archie.

The midwives would run through and ask if he had texted and, always the thoughtful fella, he stayed in touch during that difficult time.

The midwives looked horrified when Caro told them she had deleted the texts — they could not understand how you could delete a text from Jonny. But what matters is he sent them.

So when people ask why Jonny mattered as a rugby player the answer is simple — he was someone who lived for the game and his team-mates and made us all better through his actions on and off the field.

The Telegraph

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The script for Monday night’s Top 14 clash against Agen dictated that a little more than 24 hours after embarking on his “nouvelle vie sans le XV de la Rose” Jonny Wilkinson would evoke memories of 2003 and land the drop goal late in the game to secure the points for Toulon.

Alas, England’s World Cup winner doesn’t do scripts – at least not other people’s – and on a night when he missed more shots off the kicking tee than he landed he actually departed the fray with almost 20 minutes to go.

Not that it was a poor night for Wilkinson – even when judged by the strict standards of perfection he demands of himself. It is just that the master’s normally flawless left peg had a night off.

In almost all other aspects of his game, Wilkinson was at his vintage best. Indeed, for those who haven’t seen much of him in action for his French employers Wilkinson demonstrated a level of skill recent England displays may have suggested had left him.

Two of the three tries Toulon scored before Wilkinson was replaced came courtesy of the 32-year-old’s final pass. The first, barely three minutes into the game, was long and looping and sent the Fijian Gabi Lovobalavu over in the corner while, the second, timed and delivered in such a way as to create the space for Leonardo Senatore to smash over, set up the bonus point score. A third pass – an audacious, reverse, spiralling number with a degree of difficulty right up there with anything Tom Daley can muster – went to hand and started off another flowing move that only just fell short of the try line.

On this evidence, the passing of Wilkinson’s international career will not only be mourned but missed.

Independent

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RUGBY legend Jonny Wilkinson has announced he is retiring from the international game.

His drop goal in the World Cup final against Australia in 2003 won England the trophy and Jonny an army of fans.

And it wasn’t just the power and precision of his kicks that turned heads.

The unassuming hero will also be sorely missed by his many female admirers.

Here a top sports writer, who knows Jonny well, reflects on his unique contribution to the sport.
WITH the body of an action man, the face of an angel and bursting with talent, life was never going to be a slow, dull affair for Jonny Wilkinson.

But when the shy 18-year-old first played for England back in 1998, becoming the youngest man to do so for 70 years, he can have had no idea of the colossal impact he would have on the game.

Now, 91 England caps and nearly 14 years later, as Wilkinson retires from international rugby it’s fair to say that he transformed the sport of rugby union — bringing in thousands of new fans as one of the most influential, brilliant and popular players of his generation.

It wasn’t just Wilkinson’s rugby that made him stand out from the crowd and it certainly wasn’t just his kicking.

It was the way in which the 32-year-old conducted himself. He cornered the market (not a crowded one, admittedly) in being a well-behaved sportsman. He hated drinking, hated smoking and liked to get to bed early and train hard.

In so many respects, he represented what we wished all our sportsmen were like.

His beauty, charm, glamour, decency and inner strength were the antithesis of the drunken, ill-educated yobbishness we feared many had become.

And there was something gloriously fairytale-like about all that hard work and dedication paying off on a balmy night in Sydney in 2003, when he kicked the drop goal that won the World Cup for England.

With his unfavoured right foot, under unimaginable pressure and with the world watching, he belted the ball and became a sporting icon — a poster boy for a sport and for the whole country.

This gorgeous man who loved his mum and looked like he’d just arrived for choir practice had triumphed.

Men cheered and women everywhere fell head over heels in love.

I remember going into the hairdressers in 2003 and the stylist asked me whether I was doing anything nice at the weekend.

“I’m going to Australia for the Rugby World Cup,” I replied, proudly. “Oh,” she said.

She’d clearly never heard of the Rugby World Cup. Perhaps she’d never heard of rugby. But when I got back from Australia, it was a different story. I walked past the hairdressers and heard frantic clip-clopping behind me as she rushed out on her sky-high stilettos, shouting for me to stop.

“How was the World Cup?” she asked, wide-eyed with wonder. “Did you get to meet Jonny Wilkinson? I’ve got a poster of him at home.”

Perhaps it doesn’t matter that Jonny Wilkinson attracted thousands of new fans to the sport, but then — perhaps it does.

Schoolchildren, teachers and mothers were suddenly absorbed in it. Numbers in rugby club youth sections swelled and they all wanted to be Jonny.

More people took up coaching and refereeing and the sport grew. Jonny did that.

Rugby is a team game, but the role that Wilkinson played in taking the sport to a wider audience, a new audience, transformed the sport for ever.

And yet Wilkinson never had any real idea of the massive impact he had made on that gorgeous night in Sydney.

When he arrived back at Heathrow Airport, he was astonished that a crowd had turned out to welcome him.

The other players crawled off the plane looking as if they’d been drinking all the way from the southern hemisphere (they had!), Jonny skipped behind them looking as if he’d been eating yogurt and munching on carrots all the way.

Clive Woodward asked Wilkinson how he was planning to get back to Newcastle. “On the train.”

“No, you’re not,” said Woodward, putting him into a car. “You can’t go on the train, you’ll be mobbed. You’re the most famous person in England.”

While the country was celebrating what Wilkinson had achieved in 2003, the man himself was already looking forward and planning what he would do next.

He refused to drink alcohol in the changing room after the match, saying he needed to stay in control, and began chatting to the fitness expert, Dave Reddin, about how he might improve his speed before the next game.

“Can’t you relax? You’ve just won the World Cup,” said Reddin.

“No,” said Wilkinson. “That kick wasn’t straight. I need to keep working.”

England’s triumph turned Wilkinson into rugby’s answer to David Beckham, and the football star moved quickly to associate himself with Wilkinson.

“When Jonny plays well and scores a lot of points, it seems that England really raise their game,” said Beckham.

“I think Jonny plays in a similar way to me because I think his position is a very similar position to a midfielder in football. We’re quite alike,” added Becks.

In many ways there are similarities between the two golden boys of English sport — with their head-turning good looks and natural talent.

They made their international debuts within a year and a half of each other and went on to have towering presences in their respective sports. But Beckham never achieved everything it’s possible to achieve in an England shirt — Wilkinson did.

There’s a story that Beckham called Wilkinson to congratulate him on the World Cup victory, but Wilkinson never returned the call.

He was never moved by celebrity status, he never had his head turned by the people who crowded round him, hoping some of his magic would rub off on them.

I bet he never forgot to call his mum — but he forgot to return the call to David Beckham.

Wilkinson once rang me when I was covering the Wimbledon championships and said when he realised I was there: “I’d love to go to Wimbledon.”

He had no idea how much Wimbledon would love to have him. I talked to a few people at the championships and they organised tickets for the next day and put him in the Royal Box the day after.

They were delighted to have him — but Wilkinson didn’t know why.

One of the loveliest things about him, and there are many lovely things, is that he never quite saw himself as we see him. He saw his failings, not his strengths. There is no ego, no vanity or flightiness.

He has no idea how much he is loved, respected and admired. Sometimes this made him prone to depression, tough on himself and single-minded in his training, but it also made him grounded, decent and extremely likeable.

I remember interviewing Wilkinson soon after he started playing for England and he said: “I don’t ever want to be the sort of person who looks back and says, ‘I had a chance but I didn’t take it.’ I don’t want to let anyone down. I can’t bear the thought of letting my family down.”

As he walks off the international stage, quietly and with the same dignity that he stepped on to it 13 years ago, there’s no doubt he has done this.

He has grasped every chance he’s had and made the most of every moment. He never let anyone down. It’s hard to think how anyone could have made their family, their team-mates or their country prouder.

Let’s hope that, in retirement, he can take a step back and realise how much he’s done, and how special his contribution has been.

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