Jonny Rotten Signs Off

I appreciate I'm a little bit late with this story, but then it has been Christmas and New Year and one must spend a bit of time with one's family. But the whole issue did interest me a fair bit and so I thought I'd go for it anyway!

On the face of it, a star player signing a new cotract without any of the fuss of Wayne Rooney seems a bit of a non-starter. Jonny Wilkinson has signed a contract extension with Top 14 side Toulon until 2013. Fair enough, they pay very well without the salary cap that afflicts the Aviva Premiership (so much less cooler since the sponsorship with Guinness ended). And Wilko has been in very decent form since joining them, particularly excelling in this season's Heineken Cup pool against Munster, Ospreys and London Irish. His career was beginning to stagnate at Newcastle and with England, where his unerring service both on the pitch and in rehabilitation was beginning to be cruelly underappreciated by the public, eventually forcing the hand of Martin Johnson, who dropped him from the national side. But, at Toulon, he has led the side beyond their previous capabilities whilst discovering some of his best form. He needs them as much as they need him, so an extension seemed the logical thing.

And yet. Just as Wilko may be looking a viable stand-off for England again, the RFU have come in with this ridiculous home-based rule from the 2011 World Cup onwards, meaning that those that ply their club trade outside of the UK will not be considered for national selection. So essentially, if we assume that this stance will not be relaxed, Wilkinson's international career is over. He will be 34 when his contract with Toulon runs out, and with his injury record, there is no way his body will be able to compete with the likes of the Tri-Nations sides. 2013 will probably be the end of his rugby career full stop.

However, if Jonny is enjoying a golden autumn, would it not be in England's best interests to keep him involved in the national setup, perhaps not to start every game, but to help them out with his cool head (or lack of personality depending on which side of the border you're from!) in times of crisis and mentor the younger players at the No.10 position, leading up to and after the World Cup. People forget that Toby Flood is still only 25 and needs his game to develop further to be a truly viable option in a World Cup winning side (which England aren't by the way, we'll knock them out in the group). Essentially, he lacks the poise, consistency and occasional brilliance that Wilkinson showed back in 2003 and before. Of course, he's been around Wilkinson at Newcastle for a long time, but needs to continue his apprenticeship with the man himself.

There will be other young fly-halfs emerging in the next three years as well. If the RFU cast him adrift purely for showing a bit of ambition to further himself in a challenging environment, then English rugby will suffer for it.

Happy New Year to all our Scottish rugby fans!

RM

PS The "Jonny Rotten" mentioned in the title is not suggestive of Wilko's personal greed, just a blogger who stil hasn't got over 2003!