Jonny Wilkinson: England - not Toulon - is my life and I am loving it

Jonny Wilkinson: England - not Toulon - is my life and I am loving it

Any man would be moved by the tumult that erupted at the Stade Felix Mayol on Sunday when Toulon beat Munster, but Jonny Wilkinson feels that his decision to put his international career in jeopardy by signing for Toulon until 2013 has been entirely rational and one that does not spell the end of his days in an England shirt.

A way of life: Jonny Wilkinson releaxes in Toulon where, he says, rugby is a culture issue Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Mick Cleary 7:30AM GMT 18 Jan 2011

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He has also ruled out retiring from international rugby once the Rugby World Cup has run its course in October, preferring to trust in the mood of the moment to guide him.

One thing is for certain, however, his love affair with France is profound. His 18 months in the south of France have made him ‘‘a better player as well as person’’. Wilkinson has not quite turned native for he professes to ‘‘love England to bits’’, but even with the threat of players based outside England being excluded from selection following this year’s Rugby World Cup, Wilkinson had no hesitation in agreeing to a two-year extension on his contract.

He said yesterday that has had no specific discussions with Martin Johnson on the matter. “There have been no lengthy talks, more of a day-to-day thing really,” said Wilkinson, who will join up with the England squad next Sunday for a five-day training camp in Portugal. He is unsure if he is to be released for Toulon’s Top 14 game against La Rochelle the following Wednesday but there is no friction either way over the matter.

The risk to his international future did not register high on his list of priorities when it came to agreeing his new contract. Not that Wilkinson is presumptuous about England’s need of him, nor dismissive of the honour of wearing the jersey. It is just that his priorities have changed. Rugby in Toulon is more than something he does on a Saturday afternoon.

“Rugby is lived here, it becomes a very special part of you, almost as if it’s part of your family,” said Wilkinson, who was the last, as ever, to finish at training yesterday morning despite still feeling the labours of the previous day’s momentous Heineken Cup win to which he contributed 22 points.

“I didn’t quite expect it to be like this. It was like football was in Newcastle. It’s been an opportunity to start a brand new life. It would be very unnatural to think you might want to get rid of it. You have to live it daily or not at all. This is me now.’’

The fact that his presence here might impact on his England fortunes cuts little ice with Wilkinson. He commits wholly to projects and to people, or not at all. Toulon is a fixed point in his existence, unlike international rugby, which comes about only at the whim of selectors or the gods. The delight of the 2003 World Cup win turned quickly to despair as injuries assailed Wilkinson, effectively removing him from the game for several years and bringing him to a low point.

“I’ve got something here I can rely on, measure myself and my goals against,” said Wilkinson. “My ambition to be the best player I possibly could be was no longer there as I couldn’t get on a rugby field. That steady upward curve was taken away from me. My injuries became a soap opera. But no player has the right to assume anything about playing for England. That’s not me.

“Toulon has become a new life for me. I’ve had to go out and prove myself from scratch and that’s been fantastic. You’re not just playing for a team, you’re playing for a region, a way of life. You’ve got to buy into that. You can’t just flick a switch and trot out on a Saturday. It’s all or nothing.

“You might have thought that would be the way at every club. But it’s not. And that’s given me real fulfilment and pleasure. It’s made my life quite exceptional. Of course I’ll always give what I can to the England cause. But my place there needs to be merited. And for that to be the case then I have to be doing what I’m doing here because it makes me the person and the player I am. If England fits, it will be.’’

The holistic approach to life has always been the Wilkinson way. The spiritual is as important as the sporting. It is evident from the way he conducts himself and from the adulation he receives from the terraces at the Mayol that the love affair is most certainly requited.

It has always been a curious part of Wilkinson’s understated existence that the more he shuns the limelight the more it seeks him out. At least, though, he is feted throughout Toulon and the Var region for being a top-class rugby player and not for being a celebrity.

“Nobody measures me against my profile or history,” said Wilkinson, who lives in the hills above the city. “It’s all about the rugby. That’s been great. I’ve had to refresh how I do things, break them down, learn to link quickly with new players and take myself out of the fixed and certain. That’s put me under stress and I’m the better for it.

“I’ve had to dig deeper. I always liked to be 100 per cent certain of what I was doing. Here you can’t be. Even the match balls change. So you’ve got to adapt and take responsibility. I used to want to know where precisely the next meal was coming from. Now I have to live more in the unknown, think on my feet. It’s been a real adventure.”

Wilkinson, 32 this May, missed England’s autumn series because of a shoulder injury. He had lost his starting place to his former Newcastle team-mate, Leicester’s Toby Flood, at the end of last season’s Six Nations Championship. The understudy role was an unfamiliar one. Did it cause him any great angst or any feeling that it might be time to give it all away?

“In a competitive sense, of course you’re not comfortable with it,” said Wilkinson. “But I would question anyone who would be comfortable. I was never into this thing about people supposedly keeping the England shirt warm when I was injured. Whoever is playing is playing because they’ve earned the right to.

“My ethos has always been to give a team-mate the greatest opportunity to do well. I want to see Toby play to the best of his ability. If he’s not at his best, then it’s a waste. Of course, it’s a constant battle with your own competitive feelings because you want to be out there in control and making a difference. But it’s about the team succeeding. If you’re not doing your best for someone else, then you’re doing the opposite and hurting the team.”

The ultimate individual in a team sport, Wilkinson admits that he would suffer on a golf course if that were to be his chosen sport. He is supporting France’s bid to stage the 2018 Ryder Cup but admits his perfectionist bent would only cause him harm in golf.

“I’d be a shocker, an absolute shocker,” said Wilkinson, who once played to a handicap of 10 until neck, knee, shoulder, ankle and sundry other injuries intervened. “I’m delighted, though, that France is aiming to host the Ryder Cup. As I know, there’s an energy and enthusiasm for sport in France which is something else. I’m a better person for being here, that’s for sure.”

Wilkinson, il ne regrette rien.

Jonny's ticket to Ryder
Jonny Wilkinson is a supporter of the France bid to stage the Ryder Cup in 2018 at Golf National in Paris. Golfers there have agreed to a €3 levy on membership fees to help finance the bid, which is also supported by President Sarkozy.
www.rydercup2018france.comqtdz
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