Jonny Wilkinson. Photo credit: adifansnet
- Bookies don’t rate Red Rose chances. If the bookmakers are to be believed, New Zealand are nailed on to win and England have only a very small chance of success. According to betting odds comparison website Oddschecker, England can be backed at odds of 18/1. They trail red-hot favourites New Zealand (4-6), Australia, South Africa and France in the outright winner market. Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes told The Racing Post: “England’s backers are still in hiding. We’ve seen each-way money for France but it remains a huge cheer for the field against the favourites.”
- Wilko is the key. Bryn Palmer of the BBC said having experienced England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson back fit and in the side gives England a real lift. “If England overcome Argentina on Saturday and emerge as group winners, France and Australia may again provide the knock-out barriers in their path to a possible record third successive final,” suggested Palmer, who said, “the good news for English supporters is that when Wilkinson looks around the current squad, he sees a group of players ready to take that rollercoaster ride to the end of another World Cup.” Palmer concluded that anything is possible “especially if Jonathan Peter Wilkinson is in your side.” James Lawton of The Independent concurred that England’s success or failure likely rests squarely on the shoulders of Jonny Wilkinson: “It is a set of certainties, an absolute understanding of what he can do and, just as crucially, what he can’t. No, he cannot flood the rugby field with the inventions and the colour of a Bennett or a Barry John. He can, however, produce a steady light by which a team set up in the way of the current England might just find a way to go to, and maybe a little beyond, the boundaries of its talent.”