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Christopher Jones: 2014, Jonny Wilkinson's penultimate game - Toulon v. Saracens

Everyone remembers Jonny Wilkinson from 2003, and his iconic drop-goal to win England’s first and only Rugby World Cup.

But almost 11 years later, the boy wonder was still going, albeit this time as a 34-going-on-35 year-old in the twilight of his career.

After years in the injury wilderness, a move to French club Toulon had revitalised Wilkinson's career, and he had helped lead a revolution on the Côte d’Azur, with Toulon winning the Heineken Cup in 2013 on the way to winning an extraordinary three-in-a-row.

But come May 2014 the end was near, with Wilkinson announcing at the start of the year that this was to be the last season of his remarkable career. So his penultimate match took him back to Britain, and to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, where Toulon were taking on Saracens for the European title.

As they did a year earlier, the Toulonnais over-powered their English opposition, with Wilkinson again reigning supreme, kicking penalties, conversions, and a customary drop-goal on the way to a resounding 23-6 win.

My role that day was as a pitch-side reporter for BBC Radio, and on the final whistle I sprinted onto the Cardiff turf to grab who I could from the winning side. There was no shortage of great players on the Toulon team to speak to, but we needed Jonny, who inevitably was man-of-the-match and being dragged from pillar to post after the game.

I relocated inside in the hope of grabbing a word a few minutes with Wilkinson, but an hour after the game and still no sign of the man, with numerous TV stations looking for their pound of flesh. The studio was growing impatient; I wasn’t going to miss him was I? Eventually Jonny appeared, and I proceeded to start the interview, praying he wouldn’t be dragged away again.

No sooner had I finished the first sentence of the first question, and the Toulon media officer stormed over and started to pull at Jonny’s shirt, he had somewhere else to be, even though we were live on air! Thankfully Jonny stayed put, and I was able to have him for a whole 3 minutes, making my “two question” interview last a bit longer by asking him a new question during his longer answers. But he was good as gold as he reflected on his career, the move to France, and what it meant to win another European title.

He had one more game left after that one – a French Top 14 final. Did he win that one as well?

I think you know the answer…

Memory added on May 26, 2021

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