Wilkinson now top points scorer in tests, but should he still be playing?

6 Nations, England

So Jonny Wilkinson is now the top points scorer in international test history, with his 9 points scored against Scotland on Saturday.  However, even with this impressive record, there are major questions over whether or not he should still be playing for England.

When Jonny first showed up on the scene, he was something different, a hard tackling fly half who was the best kicker around, both from hand and for goal.  He set the standard that everyone else aspired to, and aimed for.  Now everyone else is catching up with this level of playing, and in a lot of cases are exceeding it.  If you combine this with the fact that Jonny has been injured for large chunks of the past few years, it leaves you with a player who seems to have been left behind by every other fly-half.

Is it time to get rid of the last of the old school world cup winning team and start afresh with players who aren’t expected to perform miracles, who aren’t expected to be perfect?  If nothing else, the weight of expectation upon Wilkinson is immense, and while he is mentally strong, maybe it is time to say enough is enough, and take a step back from the international game, before that decision is made for him?

Is Cipriani a worthy successor?  I don’t think that there is a definitive answer to this yet, but at the moment I don’t think things could get much worse than they did on Saturday.

js @ March 10, 2008