TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ago, England went to Australia for a tour that heralded the start of Clive Woodward’s ‘Club England’, writes Alan Pearey. And RW debated who should be the starting fly-half for the 1999 World Cup – Mike Catt, Paul Grayson, Jonny Wilkinson or Alex King?
Ignoring the clubs of that quartet, we polled the other Premiership head coaches and seven of the ten chose Wilkinson, who had only just turned 20. Mike Brewer, boss at West Hartlepool, chose his own Steve Vile.
Stuart Barnes endorsed the consensus view. “Clive Woodward must pick Wilkinson now or he will never win the World Cup,” wrote Barnes, dissecting the excellence of Jonny’s recent performance at champions Leicester.
Regardless of who England picked, Gavin Hastings was scornful of their RWC chances. The Scotland…