Jonny Wilkinson retires from international rugby

Yet another top England rugby player has announced his retirement from the international game. Although it is to be expected after a World Cup (the same happened after 2003 and 2007) it is sad to see such an inspirational player make such a decision although I can appreciate that with his injury record, he would prefer to go out when he decides to and not when his body (or the doctors) tell him he has to.

Hopefully he will continue to enjoy his rugby with Toulon (and who wouldn't, playing the South of France?) for many more years to come.

Very sad day for Enland Rugby I reckon LP - I'm sure he could still have something to offer England for a year or two yet

Superb player, great kicker (of course) but a better running half back than many give him credit for and a tackler who (pound for pound) could hit as hard as anyone in the world. Maybe not the best technique as a tackler which probably led to many of his injuries, but his committment was never lacking

Yes a big loss for international Rugby. Had the pleasure of meeting him a few times as well a thorughly decent bloke.

I heard this announcement on the radio this morning. Was surprised to learn he made 91 appearances for England, given his injury record that is pretty impressive.

This should have happened 4 years ago - he has been poor (by his standards) since the last world cup '07, and has probably inhibited the way England play - its a good thing for English rugby, unfortunately!

Brilliant kicker, fearless in defence and better on the break than you might think but his pass was painfully slow. Having said that, a Kiwi friend of mine can never understand why England fans complain even when we win.

Some game at Murrayfield on Boxing day. Glasgow and Edinburgh tied 23 points each.
Great result for my local team Ayr when they beat Bristol recently.


I find it hard to believe that the Edinburgh v's Glasgow game is the oldest club rugby match in the world.
I know that Scotland were early into rugby with the Melrose 7's etc but I would have imagined that the English teams would have been much earlier.