Jonny Wilkinson is back.

Good to see one of the best out halves in recent times back to playing rugby again. A run of injury free games and he might force himself into the lions squad. We can only hope.

He's not going to be the same player he was in 2003, people need to get over this.

Jeremy Guscott especially, he reckons Johno should be the starting 10 for the Lions if fit! :rolleyes:

thomond2006 wrote: »

Newcastle Falcons have re-registered fly-half Jonny Wilkinson and lock Geoff Parling for the latter stages of the European Challenge Cup.

Goodnight Connacht

If Wilkinson was fit, and showed a hint of the form that made him... ...well made him Jonny Wilkinson I'd happily have him start for the Lions.

The guy won England a World Cup. It's that simple.

anonymous_joe wrote: »

If Wilkinson was fit, and showed a hint of the form that made him... ...well made him Jonny Wilkinson I'd happily have him start for the Lions.

The guy won England a World Cup. It's that simple.

he may have been the star player but he certainly didn't win it alone, that team had talent all over the place, not least Johnson and Dallaglio. Eventhough in saying that if JW could prove himself fully fit he is head and shoulders above the other contenders for 10, would need to maximise match time between now and any test game though.

chupacabra wrote: »

Goodnight Connacht

i don't understand this comment. Connacht are playing Northampton

jam_on_toast wrote: »

JW was not the reason the Lions lost against NZ. New Zealand were a better team and the lions didnt stand a chance without BOD and Dallaglio.

He was picked because there were no outstanding candidates in a key position. We are in the exact same situation now, and he is a proven performer in big matches.

How many southern hemisphere away test matches has ROG and Jones won?

Also, having a defensively able 10 could be key as the Boks are probably gonna target that area.

I never said he was the reason we lost. I said Woodward made the same mistake some people here are making. That is, picking a player who has been more or less injured for a long time based on past form, and who has barely played. It is crazy.

And Jones will be more than able to defend. O'Gara less so, but I would still take these two fully fit, test match ready and uninjured 10's over Wilko.

In fairness given the fact that he has hardly had a season injury free since England won the world cup he would be ah huge risk for the Lions tour, there is no question of his talent or his ability but it would be hard to see him return to what he was after so many long injury lay offs. Psychologically more than anything I doubt he will ever make it again on the international stage!

louthandproud wrote: »

he may have been the star player but he certainly didn't win it alone, that team had talent all over the place, not least Johnson and Dallaglio. Eventhough in saying that if JW could prove himself fully fit he is head and shoulders above the other contenders for 10, would need to maximise match time between now and any test game though.

He was the difference though. In the same way that we'd never have won the GS without O'Driscoll, it was Wilkinson that made the difference.

Noopti wrote: »

So basically you would make the same mistake Woodward made in 2005. :rolleyes:

Hopefully Geechan will take bit more of a sensible approach. He probably will, thank God.

I said if he was fully fit and showed form.

thehighground wrote: »

That is a akin to saying ROG won the GS with his drop goal!

That was a very, very good English team - Johnson, Hill, Dallaglio, Robinson etc. etc. (btw, Jonny missed a conversion as far as I remember in the final, didn't he?).

Has Wilkinson played rugby under the ELVs yet? Big ask, even of him, to play test rugby without any international warm-up time.

I'd have actually made the comparison with O'Driscoll, his tries (and that drop goal) were what earned us the Grand Slam. He was the difference.

And he's played for Newcastle a bit this season, they play under the ELVs right?

It's easy to get carried away with Wilkinson, but he's the best out-half I've ever seen play, but then I'm not really old enough to have paid attention to anyone before 2000 or so...

anonymous_joe wrote: »

If Wilkinson was fit, and showed a hint of the form that made him... ...well made him Jonny Wilkinson I'd happily have him start for the Lions.

The guy won England a World Cup. It's that simple.

Its not that simple ya jonny was outstanding in 03 but England also had the prob the best pack to ever set foot on a pitch from 1 to 8 were at the top of their game.... that said jonny set a WC points record that will prob never be broken his test point record should also be out of touch but **** happens.

Noopti wrote: »

Well then, he won't be travelling. As he is only fit now (not fully fit) and will have no time to display the form necessary to justify a place on the tour.

Alright, honestly, do you think Stephen Jones or Ronan O'Gara is as good as Wilkinson?

twinytwo wrote: »

Its not that simple ya jonny was outstanding in 03 but England also had the prob the best pack to ever set foot on a pitch from 1 to 8 were at the top of their game.... that said jonny set a WC points record that will prob never be broken his test point record should also be out of touch but **** happens.

See - he set that record. The guy was superb. Great kicker, good defender, alright attacker.

Noopti wrote: »

A fully fit 2003 Johnny Wilkinson? No way, he was miles above them.

A broken down, hardly played 2009 Johnny Wilkinson. I would put O'Gara and Jones ahead of him. No doubt in my mind.

Note that you, and others, all refer to his quality in the past tense?

Definitely noted. I said a fully fit Wilkinson who showed glimpses of his past form after all. I'd rather him, fit, than anyone else for the Lions because, well, he's better. But if he's not fit, which is quite likely, well, then it's a problem.

Sure look at Henson, whether you like him or not, everyone knows he's a very talented player, but he's not really been fit in a year. He'd be bloody handy at 12 for the Lions, but I can't see him making it.

Wilkinson's the same - if he can prove himself fit, then throw him on the plane for sure.

Noopti wrote: »

Absolutely! My only caveat being that he must prove himself fit AND on form. And he really only has one game before the squad is announced so I can't see how that could possibly happen.

That is why I think we/and some pundits, should just stop going on and on about him being picked. It seems pointless to me.

It's hard to in a way. Problem with the Lions tour is you've got so many different motivations, some people want lots of guys from their home team, some want to win it, etc. Some want form rewarded and so on. So many varying perspectives it's easy to get caught up by one.