Jonny's Joy (From Gazette Series)

Jonny's Joy

Simon Thomas, a Year Six pupil at Dursley Primary School has two passions - rugby and writing. And rugby player Jonny Wilkinson is his hero. So when England won the World Cup, Simon put pen to paper and wrote Jonny's Joy. He then asked the Gazette if it could be printed in the newspaper. "To have my story in the paper would be a dream-come-true," he said.

"WHAT shall we call him?"

"Jonny Peter Wilkinson."

"Yes, Jonny Peter Wilkinson it is, a good solid name. I'll have him playing rugby before he's at school." Phil Wilkinson was delighted to have a son. Little did he know just how successful Jonny would become!

Sure enough he started to play rugby with his dad at the age of three. Phil was playing professional rugby at that time. His successful rugby career ended when he turned 40, his 22 years of professional rugby had ended.

Jonny played cricket for more than one Hampshire school but continued with his natural talent, rugby.

When he was just 18 he signed a two year contract with the Newcastle Falcons, unlike football, in rugby you don't normally play professionally until 20 or 21 even more so back in 1997. After playing only 58 minutes of senior rugby he got called into the English line-up against Ireland. He came on replacing Mike Catt in the 79th minute. He didn't get the best reception in the world.

"Number 20, Jonny Wilkinson is replacing number 12 Mike Catt". The crowd fell silent. "Who the hell is he?" I heard one man say.

The game went on with Jonny having his only touch of the remaining minutes, catching a high hanging ball and passing it out wide. That was Jonny's first game representing his country.

Jonny Wilkinson's career grew from there. His reputation kept growing and still is today. After his two-year contract came to an end he renewed his contract with the Newcastle Falcons. Even though he was getting contract offers from left, right and centre, he stayed faithful to his local club. The number of times he has been called up for England just never stops growing.

He has devoted himself to the game. His timetable is full every day. Apart from usual training with Newcastle and England he gets up at about 6am, has his breakfast and goes to the gym until 8am. After that he goes for a run and does more exercise. Then he would have lunch and prepare to go to training. They normally train from 1pm until about 4pm; next the whole team goes to the gym and has a fitness test.

Jonny normally goes back to the ground and practices his kicking and other aspects of a game. He usually finishes all of this at about 8pm or 8.30pm. Later he goes home and relaxes for the night.

Although his schedule is tight he always seems to find time to go to signing sessions and other things. He is a very down to earth guy, even though he is rated as the best fly half in the world. He does the normal things like going shopping, getting in the food and getting new clothes.

After the success of the rugby world cup in Australia Jonny's profile will go up world-wide. He is odds-on to receive an OBE from the Queen at Christmas. His earnings are also predicted to go higher after that stunning moment in Sydney. On average Jonny Wilkinson earns £250,000 in wages, and £750,000 in advertising along with corporate sponsors.

Compared to David Beckham he earns pennies. David Beckham earns £6,000,000 each year. Rugby is a sport that is growing and won't stop. Unlike football, rugby is known for its peace at matches and not violence.

If you ask me, I'd say rugby is the best sport around.

And Jonny Wilkinson is running to the top!