‘These two 10s might just be an inspiration to each other’
Wilkinson believes that Gatland’s big gamble is not as big a risk as Woodward’s in 2005 ‘Once Sexton and Farrell have the foundation they can take the number off their back’
ALions tour to New Zealand, and a head coach under extreme pressure rolls the dice with a controversial selection in midfield. For Warren Gatland 2017 read Sir Clive Woodward 2005, only this time it is Jonathan Sexton and Owen Farrell who are filling the roles played 12 years ago by Jonny Wilkinson and Stephen Jones in the first Test.
Like Sexton and Farrell this time around, Jones and Wilkinson had not started a game together previously on the tour, and it showed. With the England international at inside centre and the Welshman at fly-half, the Lions were crushed 21-3, setting the tone for a series whitewash.
Wilkinson still shudders at the memory, but while he recognises that a collective lack of cohesion across the squad stunted his partnership with Jones from the outset, he is reluctant to condemn the Farrell-sexton axis just yet.
“It was just a difficult tour in 2005,” he says. “There wasn’t the flow or the fluency. It felt fragmented, not because of anyone’s intentions – it just never quite hit that mark when we started to look as one.
“There wasn’t a strong foundation on which to build that relationship. When I was playing with Stephen Jones, we were almost trying to build a foundation and decorate our bedroom at the same time. It was a really challenging experience.
“Looking at this tour, it seems as though that foundation has been laid. Yes, they have lost a few games and drawn one, but even the losses have hammered the foundation down.
“In defence, with the forwards and everything, there is a real dependence there, something you can count on. When you add two decision-makers on a strong foundation, you can start to build quickly and cleverly.”
At least Sexton and Farrell, two veterans of the Lions’ 2013 series victory against Australia, have accrued game time together in New Zealand, playing in the 12-3 triumph against the Crusaders and during the final quarter of last Saturday’s 30-15 loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park.
There will be plenty of sceptics who see their selection for Saturday’s Test as a death knell for the Lions, but Wilkinson is not among them. This is a man who knows what it takes to succeed at 10 and, having worked alongside Farrell as a consultant coach in Eddie Jones’s England set-up, he suggests these two tenacious characters could drive the Lions.
“You have to be ruthless as a 10,” Wilkinson says. “You have to go to depths of thinking that go beyond ‘What do I want?’ – it’s a can of worms, but you have to go there. You’ve already opened it by choosing to play 10.
“That brings a strength in conviction which people love seeing in and around them. You look to your left and you see someone speaking with such assurance. Once [Sexton and Farrell] have the foundation there, they can take the number off their back. They can be a player as well, taking the ball to the line, making offloads, putting guys through holes, kicking the ball over the posts or putting it in the corner.
“That’s where the real ability is. It’s not saying, ‘I’m a 10, this is what I do’. It’s saying, ‘That is part of my game, which is a massive benefit to the team, but I can take my number off and I’m still out here’. You don’t take the number off and wither. When you have that balance, when you’re both in the game and controlling it, it’s an amazing feeling.
“Having another guy out there means they’ll be able to say, ‘Go and have your crazy five minutes while I look after stuff. Because when I have mine I want you looking after me’. That’s what the difference was for me.”
Some of Wilkinson’s fondest memories from his own playing career flow from his games in harness with Mike Catt in England colours, and alongside Matt Giteau at Toulon, and he does not rule out the possibility of sparks between Sexton and Farrell.
“When Mike or Matt was taking the ball at first receiver, I would have time to sit back and look and go, ‘Hold on, what can I see’. Instead of needing to be at first receiver all the time, you can see something – ‘If we do that three times, bang, we’ll score’.
“A lot of 10s try to sort things out so that they forget to spend time on their own passing and their own footwork. [Owen and Johnny] seem to always be spending time working on the individual stuff, and when you set them together they might just be an inspiration to each other.”
Gatland’s omission of Ben Te’o deprives the Lions of a gain-line presence that stifled the influence of opposite number Sonny Bill Williams, another of Wilkinson’s former Toulon team-mates, at Eden Park. Wilkinson remembers Williams causing havoc in France – both as an offloader and a decoy runner who consistently attracted two or three defenders.
With the Lions intent on saving the series in Wellington, Gatland has gambled.
“If you start thinking, ‘I don’t want to have Sonny Bill flying through there and throwing offloads’, you start reacting,” Wilkinson says. “In an ideal world, you are proactive. At the same time, when you are playing New Zealand, if you don’t react to their strengths, you are going to find it very difficult. It’s Gatland’s challenge.”
As an ambassador for health and life insurer Vitality, Jonny Wilkinson uses his passion for healthy living to inspire everyone to be active and make positive changes to their lifestyle. Visit www.vitality.co.uk