Wilkinson wary of another ’07 if Ireland can reproduce ‘fury’

He is never happy and he demands a huge amount of those around him

Jonny Wilkinson knows exactly what it is like to feel the full force of an Irish side out for English blood.

“It’s almost beyond human,” says the 34-year-old, a small grimace flickering across his face as he remembers the events of February 24, 2007.

That day England travelled to Croke Park for a historic fixture at the home of the GAA, and they left having conceded a record number of points during their 124-year participation in the Five and Six Nations.

That the 43-13 defeat is still so clear in Wilkinson’s memory says a lot about how comprehensive it was, but what should concern those of a red rose persuasion is that the fly-half sees many of the same qualities in this current Ireland side as he did seven years ago. Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Paul O’Connell and Rory Best are all still around from that 2007 vintage, and Wilkinson’s message is clear: if they can channel the same energy, the same fury, then they can beat England at Twickenham on Saturday and take a huge step towards a potential Grand Slam.

“I look at this Ireland side and I see a lot of belief, passion and drive, which is incredibly dangerous,” says Wilkinson, who is now an interested observer of the international game having won the last of his 91 caps in 2011.

“I felt the full wrath of that at Croke Park and it doesn’t matter how structured you are as a team, if those guys keep running at you like that then eventually you will go backwards.

“England need to get as close as possible to matching the passion and ferocity that Ireland are playing with at the moment. That is the key.

“If you attack them and meet them there it will be a hell of a game. Ireland will come full steam ahead, and they have both leaders and great players everywhere.

“Ireland are two from two, they have it all open along with France. The Grand Slam is still there for them. That fires you up as in a way every game becomes do or die. You say you cannot afford to lose.”

If Ireland are to triumph they will need those leaders to guide them. The likes of O’Driscoll and O’Connell have done so before, but Wilkinson is particularly taken with Johnny Sexton.

That is hardly surprising, considering that most observers believe Sexton and Owen Farrell, his opposite number at Twickenham, are the two finest international fly-halves currently operating in the northern hemisphere.

Indeed, Wilkinson could have spent last summer alongside both of them with the Lions. Warren Gatland wanted the hero of 2003 to tour but Wilkinson declined, meaning Sexton and Farrell split the No.10 duties between them, with the Irishman at the helm for the Tests.

Instead, Wilkinson has contented himself with monitoring Sexton’s progress in France. The former Leinster man moved to Racing Metro last summer to ply his trade in the Top 14, a competition which Wilkinson has excelled in since moving to Toulon in 2009.

There are few men better qualified to analyse just how difficult the transition has been for Sexton in terms of the lifestyle and the language than Wilkinson, and it’s fair to say this Jonny is quite a fan of the other one.

“Being at Racing is an interesting experience for Johnny,” explains Wilkinson. “He has been with Leinster and Ireland where he has had a certain journey and path.

“At Racing it is more difficult to find out exactly where you are due to the language and other players picking it [your moves] up.

“The key is playing week-in week-out and hitting it hard in the big games, and now Johnny is playing very, very well.

“He is a huge competitor. Whenever I have played against him you always hear him. He is never happy and he demands a huge amount of those around him.

“Now he has a massive leading role in that Irish team, even more so now that guys such as O’Driscoll are getting towards the latter stages of their careers. In that back division he is the key, and that is huge for Ireland.”

It is tempting to think the battle between the No 10s will be decisive at Twickenham. Farrell is the younger by six years, but all things being equal they will still be facing off for the Lions Test jersey in 2017. This is the first opportunity since last summer for either to lay down a marker.

There is also a feeling that Farrell is the first man to be properly anointed as Wilkinson’s successor. Toby Flood did a fine job but at just 22 it feels as if Farrell has nailed down his shirt for a generation, an opinion reinforced by Flood’s decision to head to France rather than fight for his World Cup spot.

Farrell is a tough nut, a man who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. While Wilkinson wore his inhibitions and his inner turmoil on his sleeve, Farrell seems unburdened by nerves or white line fever.

Talk to Wilkinson and his eyes light up despite the gloom in a west London rugby club on another grey day in the English capital.

He has flown in from the south of France — ‘you should have seen it when I left yesterday, blue skies, golden sun,’ he teases the assembled throng — to promote the 2015 World Cup’s volunteers programme, but he is also here to offer his support to Farrell.

“Owen’s mental toughness is better than wherever I was at that age, or even older,” says Wilkinson. “To say, ‘well, sod it, let’s get on with it’, is something I didn’t develop for a long time. He has been under the spotlight and has done enormously well. He has fronted up to a challenge that would have been very tough in the early stages.

“With Ireland, Jonny was under Ronan O’Gara in the early stages so he could come in and build. But Owen has worked through the hardest bit and is looking good.

“When England played France, with all those young backs there was no-one to tell him, ‘this is what we are doing’. At 22 that is a hell of a responsibility.”

But what of Wilkinson’s own future? He has so far refused to commit to playing beyond the end of the current season and during our conversation the name of O’Gara crops up on numerous occasions.

It is clear that Wilkinson has been watching closely as the Munster legend has moved to Paris to work as Sexton’s kicking coach, and a specialist coaching role is clearly something that interests the Englishman.

He makes it clear he wants a prolonged break from rugby when he does finally hang up his kicking tee, but the examples of O’Gara and Mike Catt, Wilkinson’s former partner in crime and now a key member of the England coaching staff, are clearly ones he wants to emulate.

“Maybe [I will go into] individual coaching — at the moment I am doing a lot of that, helping people to find confidence in skills, abilities, saying, ‘I am in control of that’.

“I love that, the change in body language of someone who is in control. It’s not a case of ‘I hope’, it’s a case of ‘this is going to happen’.

“Certainly I hope my future in the shorter term will have a lot of that and maybe see where it goes but I am kidding myself If I think that straight after I finish playing I won’t need a big break to say, ‘right, that’s that part finished’.”

Similar to the role O’Gara has in Paris? “Exactly. It is a good role to do. You aren’t the guy there who has their head above the parapet, saying, ‘this is my team’.

“You are there to make individuals better so they can better do the job the coach wants and needs them to do inside the team structure. That is a nice place to be as it is about learning, getting better and encouraging others to do the same. I can’t stop thinking about the game as I love the game so I guess that is where you go next.”

Strictly that isn’t quite true. Where everyone goes next is Twickenham, although Wilkinson will be preparing for Toulon’s game at Bayonne.

Yet when this sporting legend talks, it is worth listening. He expects a cracker this Saturday, and so should we.