Tim
Well-known member
I decided to look at results of English fixtures against the top 4 other international sides in rugby, starting from November 24th 2001. I got all these results from planetrugby.com & I thought it was time to find out just how much a factor Wilkinson is to England and here are the results:
England v South Africa, 24th Nov 2001, Twickenham:
Eng 29 - S.A 9
England 1 try - South Africa 0 try
Wilkinson points: 21
England v France, 2nd March 2002, Paris:
France 20 - England 15
France 2 tries - England 2 tries
Wilkinson points: 5
England v New Zealand, 9th Nov 2002, Twickenham:
England 31 - N.Z 28
England 3 tries - NZ 4 tries
Wilkinson Points: 21
England v Australia, 16th Nov 2002, Twickenham:
England 32 - Australia 31
England 2 tries - Australia 3 tries
Wilkinson points: 22
England v South Africa, 23 Nov 2002, Twickenham:
England 53 - South Africa 3
England 7 tries - South Africa 0
Wilkinson points: 8
England v France, 15 Feb 2003, Twickenham:
England 25 - France 17
England 1 try - France 3 tries
Wilkinson points: 20
England v New Zealand, 14th June 2003, Wellington:
England 15 - N.Z 13
England 0 tries - N.Z 1 try
Wilkinson points: 15
England v Australia, 21st June 2003, Melbourne:
England 25 - Australia 14
England 3 tries - Australia 1 try
Wilkinson points: 10
England v France, 30th August 2003, Marseille
England 16 - France 17
England 1 try - France 1 try
Wilkinson absent.
England v France, 6th September 2003, Twickenham
England 45 - France 14
England 5 tries - France 1 try
Wilkinson points: 18
England v South Africa, 18th October 2003, Perth:
England 25 - South Africa 6
England 1 try - South Africa 0 tries
Wilkinson points: 20
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Now there have obviously been a couple of close games against other teams, namely Wales & Samoa..but really it comes down to performances against NZ, Aus, France & S.A
Now in the 2 games that England lost in that list..Wilkinson either had very little influence with the boot or he did not play.
In a number of those games you will notice that Wilkinson has scored around 3/4 of England's points in each match. e.g. 15 points against NZ in the 15-13 win at Wellington & 20 points against South Africa at Perth in their 25-6 win.
England have also played a couple of games where tries tallied up more points than Wilkinsons boot.
No wonder the guy is under so much pressure..yes occassionally England's backs will wake up & score tries, but there is no doubt that if he is having an off night England can become very beatable.
You could argue that 6 of those matches could have gone either way...if for example England had a goal-kicker like Carlos Spencer, how many of those games would England still have won?
England v South Africa, 24th Nov 2001, Twickenham:
Eng 29 - S.A 9
England 1 try - South Africa 0 try
Wilkinson points: 21
England v France, 2nd March 2002, Paris:
France 20 - England 15
France 2 tries - England 2 tries
Wilkinson points: 5
England v New Zealand, 9th Nov 2002, Twickenham:
England 31 - N.Z 28
England 3 tries - NZ 4 tries
Wilkinson Points: 21
England v Australia, 16th Nov 2002, Twickenham:
England 32 - Australia 31
England 2 tries - Australia 3 tries
Wilkinson points: 22
England v South Africa, 23 Nov 2002, Twickenham:
England 53 - South Africa 3
England 7 tries - South Africa 0
Wilkinson points: 8
England v France, 15 Feb 2003, Twickenham:
England 25 - France 17
England 1 try - France 3 tries
Wilkinson points: 20
England v New Zealand, 14th June 2003, Wellington:
England 15 - N.Z 13
England 0 tries - N.Z 1 try
Wilkinson points: 15
England v Australia, 21st June 2003, Melbourne:
England 25 - Australia 14
England 3 tries - Australia 1 try
Wilkinson points: 10
England v France, 30th August 2003, Marseille
England 16 - France 17
England 1 try - France 1 try
Wilkinson absent.
England v France, 6th September 2003, Twickenham
England 45 - France 14
England 5 tries - France 1 try
Wilkinson points: 18
England v South Africa, 18th October 2003, Perth:
England 25 - South Africa 6
England 1 try - South Africa 0 tries
Wilkinson points: 20
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Now there have obviously been a couple of close games against other teams, namely Wales & Samoa..but really it comes down to performances against NZ, Aus, France & S.A
Now in the 2 games that England lost in that list..Wilkinson either had very little influence with the boot or he did not play.
In a number of those games you will notice that Wilkinson has scored around 3/4 of England's points in each match. e.g. 15 points against NZ in the 15-13 win at Wellington & 20 points against South Africa at Perth in their 25-6 win.
England have also played a couple of games where tries tallied up more points than Wilkinsons boot.
No wonder the guy is under so much pressure..yes occassionally England's backs will wake up & score tries, but there is no doubt that if he is having an off night England can become very beatable.
You could argue that 6 of those matches could have gone either way...if for example England had a goal-kicker like Carlos Spencer, how many of those games would England still have won?
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