Battered Jonny rises again to become a folk hero in Toulon
ONE of the more heartwarming stories of this era was a golden Indian summer to the career of Jonny Wilkinson as he became the unlikely Pied Piper for ambitious Toulon in France.
After the triumph of RWC2003 Wilkinson endured three and half years of injury hell and didn’t play for England again until February 2007. In between there was a brief respite in 2005 when he went on the Lions tour to New Zealand but was some way short of his best.
Even after his return to England colours in 2007 various injury niggles continued to frustrate and Wilkinson became an increasingly introspective figure. He had climbed the highest mountain early in his career, but his battered body wasn’t allowing him to scale new peaks. Perhaps it was even time to retire.
What he did instead was to accept an entirely new challenge in 2009 when he moved to France. He accepted an offer from Toulon to make a new life on the Riviera and to act as the rallying point for the highprofile squad that billionaire owner Mourad Boudjellal was assembling. Toulon were just a project, they had achieved nothing, and it was a considerable punt by Boudjellal.
Somebody had to inspire the work ethic and hunger needed for a team of strangers to bond and thrive. After a decade of very limited domestic success with Newcastle and an incredibly frustrating stopstart England career Jonny was very hungry and his work ethic was never in doubt. This was the last best chance for Wilkinson to make up for the ‘wilderness’ years. It didn’t happen overnight.
In the first season despite finishing joint top in the regular Top 14 season they lost to Clermont in the semifinal of the French Championships and lost to Cardiff in the final of the European Challenge Cup. In the 2010-11 season they finished only eighth in the Top 14 and lost in the quarterfinals of the Heineken Cup to Perpignan.
But Toulon, with Wilkinson now installed as captain, were learning from their travails. The following season they finished third and reached the French Championship final, where they lost to Toulouse.
Before the start of the 2012-13 season Wilkinson, by now a cult figure at Toulon, announced it would be his final season. It was seemingly now or never.
In the Heineken Cup, he was a man on a mission. He scored all 21 points against Leicester Tigers in their quarter-final win and then landed seven penalties and a drop goal in their semi-final victory over Saracens. Finally he landed 11 points as Toulon won the final, beating Clermont 16–15.
Wilkinson finished as the European Player of the Year for 2013 with a perfect 17/17 goal-kicking record in the knockout stages and 108 points in total in the tournament.
Wilkinson took little persuasion to stay on for another season. And 20132014 provided the most glorious swansong. Wilkinson was unstoppable as Toulon marched to a Heineken Cup-French Championship double.
As he walked off for the last time, at the Stade de France, the best part of 80,000 French fans made a decent fist of singing
The stuff of dreams but a dream that only came true after endless hours of blood sweat, toil and no little pain.