Wilkinson acknowledges debt to Lions management

Jonny Wilkinson

Eleven days ago Jonny Wilkinson pitched up in Gloucester to play for his immediate future as a Lion.

On Tuesday the most celebrated rugby figure of the age will perform against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, with the Lions No 10 shirt on his back and the vice-captaincy of the side in his custody.

The man who dropped the goal that won a World Cup for England was at his modest, self-effacing best as he relived the torment of an injury-ravaged 18 months, and acknowledged the debt he owed to a Lions management prepared to give him every last opportunity to salvage something from the wreckage surrounding him.

Coach Sir Clive Woodward had confirmed 24 hours previously that if Wilkinson had turned in a scratchy performance last week, he would not have been added to the 44-man squad for the New Zealand tour, let alone been asked to play against the Pumas.

Was Wilkinson aware of the importance of that game? Did he treat it as his own personal final eliminator?

"There was something of that nature about the game, although because it was important to the Newcastle club as a whole, I wouldn't want to stress that aspect of it," he replied.

"Actually, I enjoyed the situation in which I found myself. I'd far rather be fighting for something than presuming it, and I'd far rather be backed into a corner than be allowed to rest on my laurels.

"In rugby, you earn your success and your right to play. I haven't earned anything this season, and I particularly hate the feeling that I haven't earned the respect and the confidence of the players around me.

"I'm grateful for this opportunity and I hope very much that I come up to expectations.

"How close am I to my best?

"Quite honestly, I have no idea of what my best is."

 

Michael Owen, one of two captains who led Wales to a first Grand Slam in more than a quarter of a century when they completed a clean sweep in this season's Six Nations championship, will lead the Lions from the No 8 position, with two of his countrymen, wing Shane Williams and halfback Gareth Cooper, alongside him in the starting line-up.

Ireland provide the biggest contingent, their half-dozen players including Leinster centre Gordon D'Arcy, who, like Wilkinson, has played little rugby of late.

If this experimental midfield comes off for Woodward, he will raise a glass or two in a spirit of relieved celebration.

Woodward did not consider any of the five tourists from Sale, all of whom are scheduled to play against Pau in this weekend's European Challenge Cup final.

Neither did he consider his two French-based Welshmen, Gareth Thomas and Stephen Jones, who are still in the thick of it on the club front, or the Leicester flanker Neil Back, who is due to appear before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary tribunal charged with clouting Joe Worsley, of Wasps.

- INDEPENDENT