Winterbottom tells of respect for Jones
He’s one of England’s greatest rugby flankers, but Peter Winterbottom has admitted he never tried to match Michael Jones at the All Black legend’s own game.
Winterbottom earned 58 caps for England between
1982 and 1993 as an energetic opensider, and made seven appearances against the All Blacks for the British and Irish Lions.
The Yorkshireman had a deep affinity for New Zealand rugby after a sabbatical season with Hawke’s Bay in
1982, and the respect was mutual – Winterbottom was voted one of the New Zealand Rugby Almanack’s Players of the Year for his feats on tour here with the 1983 British and Irish Lions.
But, that was prior to the rise of Michael Niko Jones, who revolutionised the opensider’s art from the mid1980s.
Winterbottom reflected on his rivalry with Jones in a PlanetRugby interview.
The 60-year-old looked back at England’s 1991 World Cup pool opening round loss to the All Blacks at Twickenham, where Jones scored the first try of the tournament for the second successive World Cup.
‘‘A Michael Jones try separated the two teams and although we lost, the signs that we could match the best were there,’’ Winterbottom said.
‘‘I am often asked about the challenge of Jones – he was a unique player to compete against, a different style to others around at the time.
‘‘His support play was exceptional and I always focused not on matching his skill-set, but on what I did well – be abrasive, hit hard, dog it out, be physical.
‘‘We were completely different in style despite being both opensides, and he was always a humble and gracious opponent to play against.’’
Winterbottom was a regular in England’s team at the inaugural World Cup in New Zealand in 1987, where he watched Jones score a try as the All Blacks won the title after the English crashed out, 16-3, to Wales in the quarterfinals.
‘‘It was, frankly, a bit of a debacle; we were nowhere near the professionalism of the southern hemisphere sides [I mean professional with a small ‘p’!] and I think it was a rude awakening for us,’’ Winterbottom said.
Four years later, they were better prepared and, despite losing 18-12 to the All
Blacks in round-robin play, England advanced to the playoffs and had an away win over France (19-10) in the quarterfinals and another over Scotland (9-6 in a try-less encounter at Murrayfield) in the semifinals.
That earned them a place in the Twickenham final against Australia, who had tipped over the All Blacks 16-6 in Dublin, ending Alex Wyllie’s team’s hopes of a title repeat.
Winterbottom played in the No 7 jersey alongside Mike Teague and Mickey Skinner in one of England’s best back rows, opposing Australia’s Simon Poidevin, Troy Coker and Willie Ofanengaue.
Australia won 12-6, with prop Tony Daly scoring the game’s only try.
Winterbottom was back at his day job as a London city bonds broker the day after the 1991 final.
He retired from international rugby in 1993 after his second tour to New Zealand with the Lions.