What made Jonny Wilkinson better 4 years ago than he is now?

Question

If everyone is saying that Wilkinson is not as good as he was and will never find form again, what made him a better player 4 years ago? why did everyone praise him and say he was the best fly-half 4 years ago and now lots of people are insisting that he should be dropped? he can still kick the goals but what made him so much better than he is now?

he's received a lot of criticism over the past couple of months about him playing badly in games. i know yesterday's game he made a lot of bad decisions to kick up the field aimlessly but what else are people blaming him for. it wasn't just because of him that england lost.

Answer 1

World rugby has moved on from the way the Poms made good use of Wilko. The Poms have got to try and adjust their game to how the game is played now which is open running rugby. If England stays in the kick to the opponent's end , try to keep the game there and hope for a penalty, they'll keep on losing. Notice the Pom's wins are mostly through either penalties or drop goals and not through tries. They should have learned after 2003 when they started losing games from left to right that they should have changed their game.

Answer 2

Element of surprise.  Come on great players are those who can play the game for years and stand out.  Wilkinson was fresh, not really known (as well as he is known now) so it was alot harder to determine his game.  His problem was he never changed or developed anything new, he just plays the same old boring rugby and when you don't change it is even easier to defend against you.  He was a very good player when he started and is still a very good player, but everyone else around him has evolved to good players also.  He needs to find a new point of difference to offer.

Answer 3

Played behind a stronger pack with a better scrum-half.

Answer 4

The biased English press!!!

Answer 5

The weight the world on his shoulders.

Great player. Missed a few tackles the other night which is rare.

I don't think he is worse than four years ago. The man's a legend. I don't think he should be dropped.

Drop Ashton. England has the talent - the good young players just waiting to get a run - Winning the sevens WC a few years back - those young guys (including Matt Tate) are just the shot in the arm England needs.

Time for English rugby to expand and develop, need some young strikers and a coaching staff to encourage a more open attacking pattern.

Answer 6

He used to have a decent coach to work with.

He now has a negative minded tosser who should simply resign.

Players do not change .

The way they are told to play does.

Go Ashton Go

Answer 7

maybe it's just because he was out so long that he was'nt impressing people constantly like he used to and people just got bored of him. then again it is the PRESS that have been critisising him.

Answer 8

The reason they said he was the best was because Dan Carter wasn't there to humiliate him.

Answer 9

Nothing England needs to find a 5/8 that doesnt take 5-12 shots at field goal everygame

Answer 10

his age