Hugely over rated player IMO but a machine when it came to kicking. Will be lauded as one of the greats but in hindsight people will see he was a bit ordinary just like Dawson.
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Bye Bye Jonny
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Posted 5 months ago #
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You must have missed his early career. Defensive genius. One of the best tacklers I've ever seen.
Where's he going anyway?Posted 5 months ago # -
He divides opinion for sure. I am a massive fan, the word "average" will never be used when we look back at his achievements.
Put himself on the line to for his team, an utter professional, great role model and jolly nice bloke.
A lot of young players could learn a lot from jonny, and not just english ones.
I wish him all the best for the future.Posted 5 months ago # -
Yeah, that too wrecker.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Has retired from international rugby.
Defensive genius? Oh yes he spent time doing his flankers job and injuring himself in the process
Posted 5 months ago # -
Not sure he could be described as ordinary, a fantastic record over a decent length of time and recovering from several serious injuries should make him ranked as a great player surely?
Posted 5 months ago # -
International? Ah, about time really.
Yeah I guess it wasn't really genius to tackle harder than your body can take!Posted 5 months ago # -
Jonny who?
Posted 5 months ago # -
Hugely over rated player IMO
The hugely biased standpoint from which you are posting makes the ridiculousness of that forgiveable.
Posted 5 months ago # -
DD
wait till BOD calls it a day 
Posted 5 months ago # -
Never ordinary for sure but never the genius that some England fans lauded him as. Great in defense, great kicker, no more than good enough as an international player at getting this backs going.
A model professional tho. Kept out of the headlines, didn't criticise his coaches or fellow professionals, trained hard and made the most of is talents - Cipriani are you listening?
His drop goal in the WC final cements his place in history
Posted 5 months ago # -
Not sure how i feel really - on the one hand, gutted. He was a defensive genius - redefined fly-half in defensive terms. And for the record his injuries only really began after that shocking late tackle in the 63-3 drubbing of S.A. His open play wasn't awesome compared to others, say Hodgson, Lamb, but his kicking skills were amazing and he'll forever be remembered for THAT drop goal.
On the other hand - he was poor at the world cup (as was virtually all the England team, i know) and his influence was on the wane. This opens the door for new(er) talent - Flood, Farrell, (maybe even Lamb if he learns to tackle)
Posted 5 months ago # -
He'll be missed by England and I can't think of a single team that enjoyed facing him. In the last few years, his talent in an England shirt began to wane, but I can't think of another flyhalf except for Carter who comes close in his total abilities. A good 10 years watching the man play.
Posted 5 months ago # -
I think that is a good way of thinking about how good he was by how much he influenced games he played. Englands win percentage is high with him in the team. He did most things very well and a lot of thing outstandingly. he wasn't really bad in any area (except maybe interviews and I can't think that he would have been very good in the boat race team) so I think that he should go down as a great.
Posted 5 months ago # -
but in hindsight people will see he was a bit ordinary
OP I think you'll always have him beaten in that department.
Posted 5 months ago # -
OP I think you'll always have him beaten in that department.
Oh how I
edDD wait till BOD calls it a day
Can't be too far away now can it? And there'll be the usual revisionary detracting boreshitters to be all post-modern and say how ordinary he was and that Sheepwankers Ex-Miner Boyos Thirds' centre would have walked into his position.
And TeeJ...have a word with yerself will ya?
Never ordinary for sure but never the genius that some England fans lauded him as.
To be fair..."genius" isn't a word I ever associate with rugby that much. BO'D was once asked who the best player he'd played against (possibly in the 6N - and it was a few years back when Johnny was at his best) - guess who he said.
Posted 5 months ago # -
BO'D was once asked who the best player he'd played against (possibly in the 6N - and it was a few years back when Johnny was at his best) - guess who he said.
Pigface?
Posted 5 months ago # -
BO'D was once asked who the best player he'd played against
Tana Umaga ?
Posted 5 months ago # -
Not the greatest surprise - he'd have been struggling even to find a place on the bench by the next WC.
As for how good he was, well at his best in 2003 he was the best in the world. Clearly he never had the all-round game which players like Carter do, but very, very good at what he did. We'd not have won the WC without him.
Posted 5 months ago # -
avdave
good answer but remind me who are you DD bit touchy tonight are we
actually I think BOD is a genius but it would of been cruel to bring Ronan O Punchbag/O Headless Chicken into this 
Not me i Dave purely armchair bullshitter these days
Posted 5 months ago # -
BO'D was once asked who the best player he'd played against
Tana Umaga ?
really, really, really wrong. But i can't stop chuckling.
deadly - genius can definitely be used with rugby, but it means different things for different positions IMO- as a flanker McCaw is a genius, but in a very different way to say, Barry John.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Lol @ the answers to "guess who he said"
I'm not touchy piggie. If you're going to go and spout bollocks, don't be calling me touchy when I point it out to you.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Touchy touchy touchy
Posted 5 months ago # -
Posted 5 months ago #
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Long may the man retire in Hackett.
Truely focused, truely driven, truely mastered his abilities.
Enjoy retirement, you shall be missed.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Would like to see JW play with the Kiwi pack and that back line then compare to Carter, likewise see how Carter would play with the service provided by England. Really difficult to know how good each would be, Kiwi's at height of powers this world cup and won without Carter or any of their other choices for fly half, would England in their heyday have won without Wilkinson?
I know a lot of people do not like him or his style of play and at times it was not pretty but it fitted the system, his influence on the team was huge and in this day and age his dedication is to be applauded.
Posted 5 months ago # -
An inspirational player and model professional, sad not see him in the 6n but as others have said he would struggle to get selected.
Posted 5 months ago # -
DD - if you think at any point in his career he was the best at getting the back line moving you are deluded old chap. He never was but he suited the gameplan of the 2003 WC winners. He never had a fantastic running nor passing game - but didn't need to playing in the way that team did.
If you listen to English fans you would think he was the best that ever played. Well he wasn't.
I am not the only one to see this.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Can't deny he didn't play to his strengths though.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Absolutely so bikebouy. He made the most of his talents, a model professional and great at defence and kicking. Better than any scottish fly half of the era as well
Posted 5 months ago # -
The words that have stood out for me so far in this thread are:
"professional"
"percentage"
"system"
No wonder English rugby is so boring....
(He was a great player, without doubt. Just remember that he peaked aged 24 in the 2003 WC. It was always going to be downhill from there - and the look in his eyes at the time tells me he knew it)
Posted 5 months ago # -
If you listen to English fans you would think he was the best that ever played. Well he wasn't.
This one was pretty handy (my school coach, John Horton). But he wasn't as good as Wilkinson.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Better than any scottish fly half as well
FTFYPosted 5 months ago # -
How utterly depressingly predictable that this would be posted by some miserable sod knocking the man. That chip on your shoulder is enormous.
Posted 5 months ago # -
you are deluded
While deluded would be delighted with this, I think you'll find he's a sneaky bizzie in the South West.
Posted 5 months ago #
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