Parks expects fly half flak

Dan Parks believes he and Jonny Wilkinson are cannon fodder for the critics simply because of the position they play.

Wilkinson has been blamed in some quarters for England’s unconvincing performances in this season’s RBS 6 Nations and arguably goes into Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield under as much pressure as he ever has been.

Fellow fly-half Parks, on the other hand, is enjoying a remarkable personal renaissance at Test level, having won back-to-back man-of-the-match awards.

But it was not so long ago that Wilkinson was still the golden boy of English rugby, while Parks was the bad boy of its Scottish counterpart.

And as intense as the scrutiny Wilkinson has been placed under has become of late, he has yet to see his own fans turn on him, something Parks has endured on more than one occasion in a Scotland jersey.

“As my dad always said, I picked the position that’s going to get the most grief,” Parks said.

“The position we play, you’re always in the game, half-backs and 10s – 10s probably more so because they’re in charge of where the game’s more or less played.

“They’re the ones who are trying to score the points.

“It all equates to you being either the hero or the villain.”

Parks, 31, is a huge admirer of Wilkinson and disagrees with the criticism his opposite number has had since England’s disappointing win over Italy and defeat by Ireland.

Yet, he can understand where it stems from, saying: “He’s obviously a central figure to the way England play the game.

“They didn’t score many tries against Italy – maybe that’s it.

“They lost to Ireland – there are numerous reasons.

“At the end of the day, I’m sure Jonny and all his team-mates know that he’s a great player and that’s all that’s important.”

Parks had first-hand experience of how great Wilkinson can be the first time they went head to head in 2007.

That was the latter’s first match for England since dropping the goal that secured World Cup glory three-and-a-half years earlier.

It was one of his finest Test performances as he scored a Calcutta Cup-record 27 points, including a full house of try, conversion, penalty and drop-goal.

Parks is enjoying a purple patch of his own as he prepares to celebrate his 50th cap this weekend in what he describes as “the most important game of the year”.

But despite nigh-on perfect performances with the boot since he was brought in from the cold last month, Parks believes he can do better with the ball in hand.

Asked how he could improve, he said: “Getting certain players into the game a little bit more, like the Max Evanses of this world.

“He hasn’t found as much space as we’d like him to in this tournament so far.”

Evans has been moved to the wing in order to boost his chances of doing just that, with Nick De Luca replacing him at outside centre.

The Edinburgh star, who will make his first start since November 2008 this weekend, thought he had been dropped from the squad altogether when he first checked the teamsheet this morning.

“You’re scanning frantically for your name,” a delighted De Luca told Press Association Sport.

“I looked at the subs first of all and I wasn’t there.

“I thought, ’Oh well, you win some, you lose some’.”

Today’s recall capped a stellar four days for the 26-year-old, who signed a new contract at Edinburgh on Saturday and helped them beat Magners League leaders Ospreys 24 hours later.

“It’s been a good week,” he added.