NEWS:JONNY WILKINSON has labelled his England team-mates as naive to think their World Cup drinking session would go unreported and believes some of them arrived at the tournament in the wrong frame of mind.
England's 2003 World Cup-winning outhalf, famously dedicated to his sole life aim of becoming the best rugby player in the world, made the observations in his autobiography Jonny, which was published yesterday.
In the book Wilkinson said he was ready to walk away from England last year after losing his starting berth to Toby Flood and launched a withering attack on the balls used in the last World Cup and the tournament organisers who defended them.
Wilkinson also chronicled his early days in the sport, saying he used to be literally sick with worry before every primary school match.
Wilkinson, 32, is the opposite of the stereotypical beer-drinking, song-singing rugby player of yore and says himself that he takes his dedication to abstinence and training to levels that are detrimental to his physical and mental well-being.
“When I was 20-years-old, with England, I would go out after some games so I don’t have a view on other people. It works for some, not for others,” Wilkinson wrote when examining the fallout of the now infamous night out in Queenstown, which led to pictures of stand-in captain Mike Tindall and others looking the worse for wear during “Mad Midget Weekender”.
“What I cannot understand is the naivety of people going out to the extent that they did and it not crossing their minds it would find its way back to the media. With a camera on pretty much every phone these days, how could it not come back? What is required is individual responsibility and not Johnno (manager Martin Johnson) at his wits end.”
Wilkinson said though he didn’t contribute to a subsequent squad meeting.
“My own position is so far on the obsessive side of preparation and professionalism that I fear my point of view is not going to be shared by anyone,” he said.
Rested for the pool victory over Georgia, he said he was disappointed that individuals were playing for themselves, attempting to showboat and lacking respect for their opponents.
He was so annoyed that he decided, unusually, to voice his concerns at a team meeting.
Wilkinson blamed the balls used in the World Cup for his unusually wayward kicking, writing:
“The problem is that when you feel like youre smashing it and the feedback is telling you that everything is great, yet the ball is swinging both ways and missing one way and then the other, youre left with a very difficult situation.”
