Wilkinson Won the Game Single Handedly!!

Well that seemed to be the way it happened if you listened to the Sky commentators / Wilko fanboys on here.

Taking a closer look at the game it really boils down to the front eight of each team (front 9 for Toulon if you class Basteraud as an extra No.8).

Toulon created 7 kickable penalty chances which Wilkinson kicked all of them.

Saracens created 5 of which Farrell kicked 4.

What did either O/H create apart from this? Oh yes Jonny's drop goal!! (great kick, but under no pressure as already 9 points ahead)

Does anyone really think that if you swapped Wilkinson and Farrell the outcome would have been anything other than a Toulon win?

I agree with you. The forwards set the platform.

When kicking for goal are you allowed to take more than a minute?

At least once Wilkinson did that. So much time wasting by him.

No you're right he was terrible, probably the worst fly half performance in over a decade, its discracefull really that he won man of the match, after kicking all 24 of his sides points and marshalling his side to victory in the heinekein cup semi final at Twickenham as captain. And your totally right Owen Farrell was awesome, those squandered try forward passes, passes into touch and missed kicks were much better than the shambles that was wilkinsons performance.

sirtidychris Aelandor didn't say Farrell was awesome. He just said that the Toulon pack lay a better platform for Wilkinson than the Saracens pack did for Farrel.

Wilkinson did his job well but does should he now be hyped up to the heavens? Perhaps not.

Wilkinson did nowt to get the backs moving and was caught in possession several times. One of the forwards should have been MOM

Well, to say wilkinson won the match on his own is a bit disrespectful to his teammates, he had a superb kicking boot on the day and his drop at the end was sublime.

But from memory he didn't scrum once, never won a line out and hit very few rucks.

Good Morning.... The difference between two very close sides was probably the best 10 in the French Top14 and without doubt currently the best english flyhalf. If you think all he did was maintain an astounding deadball performance that has been ongoing all season with a 100% effort then either you didnt watch the game or you are still chomping away on those sour grapes. Like Greenwood stated it will be an absolute travesty if Farrel travels instead of him.

TJ wrote:Wilkinson did nowt to get the backs moving and was caught in possession several times. One of the forwards should have been MOM

I found it funny when Stuart Barnes was praising Lobbe so much when he was announcing it, but yet still gave it to Wilkinson.

Chris Masoe MOM?

Should/Could have been a joint MoM.

Wilkinson remains a class act.

Flyhalffactory - Wilkinson was as slow as ever - caught in possession several times and robbed the outside backs of time and space. You could have swapped Farrell and wilko and the result would have been the same - the Toulon forwards were the difference.

Wilkinson showed to me why he should not tour - he cannot get the backs moving

Stuart Barness did wet himself a few times when describing the goal kicks though.

Some of those kicks could have been an art critic describing the Mona Lisa

TJ.... Wilkinson very did get his backs going by varying his game plan. He broke the gain line on three occasions, grubbered, chipped, up n undered a few high balls, and I can remember only one kick for touch that didnt go as planned..... he put both centres in open space a few times and as usual his defensive play was up there with the best. The reason Toulon can play such a forward driven game is that they are guaranteed their flyhalf will bring a result to all their hard work.

Biltong wrote:Stuart Barness did wet himself a few times when describing the goal kicks though.

Some of those kicks could have been an art critic describing the Mona Lisa

I don't klnow why they got so excited by his goalkicking. Hadn't they seen him play before? He always kicks his goals.

His drop goal was well taken, but he also put another wide.

Aelandor wrote:Well that seemed to be the way it happened if you listened to the Sky commentators / Wilko fanboys on here.

Taking a closer look at the game it really boils down to the front eight of each team (front 9 for Toulon if you class Basteraud as an extra No.8).

Toulon created 7 kickable penalty chances which Wilkinson kicked all of them.

Saracens created 5 of which Farrell kicked 4.

What did either O/H create apart from this? Oh yes Jonny's drop goal!! (great kick, but under no pressure as already 9 points ahead)

Does anyone really think that if you swapped Wilkinson and Farrell the outcome would have been anything other than a Toulon win?

Agree that the match was won up front, but that is a bit harsh on Wilkinson. They may have had a decent lead when he did the drop goal but does that matter? I think it's safe to say that Wilkinson has demonstrated he can knock those over even when he is under pressure on plenty of occasions. Even ignoring the obvious one 10 years ago, he knocks them over quite frequently and managed one in the last round where it took them from a precarious 3 point lead to a 6 point lead - a huge difference in the last 10 minutes of a match. I'd also say that I have never seen Wilkinson losing his composure the way Farrell did at times yesterday (and not for the first time this season). I think some of the pro Farrell camp need to accept that his composure isn't all that - he's just used to the luxury of playing behind a pack going forwards. Wilkinson on the over hand is and remains a genuine master at maintaining his composure.

Big Wilkinson doesn't have the luxury of being behind a pack going forwards?

The Saracens pack didn't do their job. The lineout wasn't good enough. The backrow didn't do well enough. Discipline wasn't good enough.

Farrell wasn't good I agree but his pack didn't do their jobs well enough in my opinion.

I was especially disappointed in Borthwick. Been so consistent this season yet he botched up an important lineout and didn't have any impact on the Toulon lineout.


It's interesting that now people are conveniently blocking out Wilkinson's shambolic world cup in 2011.

Flyhalf factory - you say he broke the gain line 3 times - I say he was caught in possssion 3 times albeit he did scramble to the gain line. BUt each time he did the scramble it was because he had been too slow to get a pass or kick away despite lying very deep

I don't remember more than one pass that he put a back in space.

It is true he keeps his composure - he took the tackle unlike Fareell in the same position who made the most ridiculous chip.

If you want to play with a big pack and play for penalties as toulon did then wilko is your man - he is the best inthe world at that sort of game. However to beat Aus we need morethan that and it has been proven timeand time again ?wilko is not the man to set the backs up to score.

Beshocked.... 2011 this is 2013 why bring up something that was two seasons ago?. Farrell didnt have a bad game at all but on current form and by that I mean 2013 Wilkinson is shading it if you had to make a choice for the bench 10 supporting Sexton

beshocked wrote:Big Wilkinson doesn't have the luxury of being behind a pack going forwards?

You don't need to have been watching rugby for that long to remember Wilkinson a) behind a shockingly bad Newcastle pack, and b) behind some England packs offering really poor fare for the half backs. He may not have done enough to win all those games on his own, but he kept his composure and I think he turned some of them. So in my view he was and remains a class above Farrell. I'm not suggesting Farrell is some kind of failure - he's a 21 year old lad playing in some very very high pressure games. I hope he will come good, and think that is likely. It is though sadly very typical of a press in particular that they need to make him Wilkinson Mk II rather than just letting him be Owen Farrell. It may even be adding to the pressure and making it harder for him to live up to expectation and keep his composure.

Big wrote:In my view he was and remains a class above Farrell.

All that means is that Farrell shouldn't tour ahead of Wilkinson, not that Wikinson should tour.

flyhalffactory you might not know but the Lions are playing vs Australia.

It is an international match. Not a club game. Wilkinson has no international form in the last two years.

You can't just write off Wilkinson's last foray into international rugby which was a failure.

Ok if we talk about 2013 -

Wilkinson has been good behind a very strong pack assembled of foreigners brought over from throughout the world to make a dream team.

Jonny is obviously a good player but a bit of balance is needed - he's been successful behind one of the best packs in Europe.

Sexton has also behind a very strong pack as have Farrell and Flood.

Take away a pack's dominance and they are not as good obviously.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

Big wrote:In my view he was and remains a class above Farrell.

All that means is that Farrell shouldn't tour ahead of Wilkinson, not that Wikinson should tour.

Can't argue with that, though in my defence this isn't actually a Lions team thread. I certainly don't see Wilkinson as a starter for the test team, nor even on the bench.

I think TJ has it about right, in that if you want to play a certain way then Wilkinson is fantastic, if you don't then he really isn't your man.

The more I hear about potential Lion selections like possibly Hook,Priestland and Lydiate being picked the less interested I become.

If Wilkinson goes on the Lions and Farrell Jr doesn't I wouldn't be annoyed.

Would be refreshing for once if Farrell Jr wasn't panned by every man and his dog.

Unfortunately criticism would just switch to Farrell Sr!

the real nightmare for me is a philips / wilko partnership. we could have 5 cardboard cutouts as the outside backs then as they will not get any decent ball.

The reality of the Lions situation at this point is.... Sexton will start and if its all going to plan then you will want someone to manage and close down the last 20-30 mins of the game. To be honest I wouldnt have a problem with two 10s and a utility 10/12 possibly Matt Scott who was until recently a very capable halfback or Scott Williams who has played 10 for Wales. I wouldnt have a problem with Sexton with either Biggar, Farrell, or Wilkinson as his sidekick and a utility half of either Hook, Laidlaw, Scott, or Williams. That covers the 10 slot

Risca Rev wrote:

TJ wrote:Wilkinson did nowt to get the backs moving and was caught in possession several times. One of the forwards should have been MOM

I found it funny when Stuart Barnes was praising Lobbe so much when he was announcing it, but yet still gave it to Wilkinson.

It was probably decided in an editorial meeting before the game- "If Toulon win Wilkinson is MOM whereas if it goes to Saracens its Farrell."

Because it was certainly hard to remember bout the other 28 players on the pitch at times listening to the commentators

I actually made a bet with my mates before the match that it would be either Wilkinson or Farrell that would get MON, regardless of what happened on the pitch

It really was a pathetic attempt by Sky team to get Wilkinson on the plane, as I am sure they can ramp up the media hype and sell more guff

Impartial it is not

Didn't the award presenter himself...don't know the company.... gush when he was given the opportunity to award the MOTM 'thing'? I can't even remember what it was? A goldfish bowl?

Anyway, he gushed something into Jonny's face about being happy it was specifically HIM (Wilkinson) he was awarding it to.
So, I guess Notch has it just about right as I think the award presenter would have refused to present it to anyone else.