LONDON - Jonny Wilkinson said his cool exterior belied big-match nerves as he kicked England to victory in the rugby World Cup semifinal against France yesterday.
First five-eighth Wilkinson, writing in his weekly newspaper column, said he was riddled with tension as he stood over the penalty whichwould give England an 11-9 advantage late in the game.
Minutes later Wilkinson also kicked a long-range dropped goal that gave England a 14-9 victory and a place in the final against South Africa next Sunday (NZT).
"Standing over that penalty with five minutes to go, that was nerve-wracking," Wilkinson said in today's Times.
"You can feel and see your shirt moving with your heartbeat. As much as people might think that that's your job and you don't look nervous, I tell you; it isn't like that."
Wilkinson said a combination of painful grazes on his knees and his inability to stop pouring over the game had left him with the feeling of a "rotten hangover" this morning after getting just an hour's sleep following the win in Paris.
"It's undoubtedly about the adrenalin you've cooked up through the previous day," he said.
"I wonder if there is a medical reason for it, the toxins of anxiety and nerves, because the next day I feel hungover, regardless of sleeping well or not."
Wilkinson described the moment he rejected a ball he was given for a penalty attempt just after halftime against the French.
"It didn't have a number on it so it wasn't one of the match balls and I wanted to kick a match ball.
"I hope not to have to talk about the ball this week, but if I have been practising with the match balls and I am kicking a penalty in a World Cup semifinal, it seems sensible that a match ball is the one that I kick."
