Six Nations: Life is bootiful for modest Wilkinson

If Jonny Wilkinson had been the first man to step on the moon he would probably have described it as ‘‘just another day at the office’’.

Which is not to say Wilkinson does not appreciate a defining moment in history, just don’t expect him to make a fuss about it.

Such a moment arrived on Saturday in England’s 48-19 victory over France.

True, the kick with which Wilkinson became the highest points scorer in English rugby was not quite in the league of a moon landing, but in sporting terms it was up there in a world of its own.

It took Rob Andrew 71 Tests and 10 years to amass 396 Test points. It has taken Wilkinson two years and 321 days and just 27 matches to overtake his mentor and Newcastle director of rugby, galloping along to a new milestone of 407 with the 18 he picked up on Saturday.

Even allowing for the adventurous nature of England’s rejuvenation under the stewardship of Clive Woodward that is some going for a 21-year-old, even one whose dedication saw him practising in eight inches of snow on Christmas Day.

Such is the steely nature of Wilkinson’s focus, however, that not once during 80 minutes of frantic, fabulous and forever entertaining rugby at Twickenham on Saturday did ‘that record’ cross his mind.

Not, he insisted, when he missed an easy penalty with an uncharacteristic slice after 26 minutes. Not even when he slotted over the penalty just before half-time which secured his place in English sporting history.

Indeed the only time he thought of it during the entire match was as he was trotting down the tunnel at half-time and heard the tannoy announcer proclaiming the feat to the obvious delight of the Twickenham faithful.

‘‘People had mentioned it during the week and it was nice to think they were supporting me,’’ he said. ‘‘And it is nice to have my name banded in the same bracket as Rob Andrew. But I completely forgot about it during the match. Even when I missed that penalty I just hit the kick badly, I wasn’t nervous and I had no idea that would have clinched the record.

‘‘I spoke to Rob straight after the match and he said ‘Well done’. He was very supportive and happy for me. But now it’s back into the mode of club rugby.’’

Nice words, shame about the modesty because it hardly does justice to the stuff of sporting greatness. Thankfully, a more rousing, if equally brief, response was forthcoming from England manager Woodward, who has consistently championed the unique gifts of Wilkinson as the intelligent baton-waver at the heart of England’s reconstruction.

‘‘He’s matured very well and we are very, very lucky to have one of the outstanding players in the world at the moment in Jonny,’’ said Woodward.

‘‘At half-time he was exceptional, there was no panic and really there is nothing more to be said.’’ Well, actually, there is. The great beauty of England’s future is that while Wilkinson is undoubtedly the creative and organisational jewel around which everything else is built, the rest of the side is also packed with sparkling talent.

Sure, they were temporarily stunned by a French side of massive physique and stupendous pace out wide. But once they had cut out the errors of a first-half in which French flair matched English foolishness they put together perhaps the best 40 minutes of Woodward’s managerial reign.

As the blood flowed from head wounds to Phil Greening, Jason Leonard and debut boy Steve Borthwick and the England doctor worked overtime to stitch up his wounded soldiers England’s response was quite spectacular.

From Iain Balshaw’s desperate try-saving tackles to Austin Healey’s exquisite chip for Mike Catt’s touchdown, to Richard Hill’s ubiquitous running and the frisson of excitement at the introduction of the mesmerising Jason Robinson England were magnificent.

If a Swede in the shape of Sven-Goran Eriksson brought the first glimpse of relief with England soccer’s encouraging World Cup qualifying performances, then Woodward added some extra warmth and hope too at Twickenham on Saturday.

Hope for the Lions on their summer sojourn to Australia a tour which will be populated by a majority of the white shirts on duty on Saturday.

Hope that England will complete this season’s unfinished business with the first grand slam of Woodward’s reign when this championship is completed against Ireland in the autumn.

And genuine hope too that England can continue to develop from the base of what was their eighth successive Test triumph in time to peak for the World Cup of 2003 which is Woodward’s ultimate goal.

By then, at his current rate and given health and fitness, Wilkinson should be rapidly approaching 1000 points for his country.

But let’s not get greedy in anticipation of Woodward’s final destination. As someone famous once said: ‘Don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars!’