Wilkinson - Defeat hurts

Ireland loss a massive blow, says England stand-off

Last updated: 28th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Wilkinson - Defeat hurts

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Jonny Wilkinson admits that he feels deeply hurt after England's Six Nations defeat to Ireland at Twickenham.

The 30-year-old has been criticised for his recent performances and mistakes marred his game once again on Saturday.

The World Cup winner missed three penalties in addition to fluffing a kick-off and spurning a drop-goal opportunity.

With Wilkinson's positioning for Tommy Bowe's match-winning try also being called into question, the fly-half says that he has not tasted such a sour defeat in recent memory.

"It's disappointing. It's a hell of a feeling actually," he said.

Blame

"I've not felt like this for a long time. They hurt more and more. It feels like we've taken a big bang."

However, Wilkinson was honest in the evaluation of his performance, saying that he must improve the defensive side of his game and conceding his decision on the kick-off was a poor one.

He added: "I'm happy to do that (blame myself). I don't necessarily choose to because it keeps you awake a bit but it's what drives you the next day to get up in the morning a bit earlier than most and get back on track.

"I'm always critical. I'd be critical of my positional play for three-quarters of that match. I pride myself on being defensively reliable and it's definitely something I have to improve.

"About seven or eight years ago I remember coming to a press conference and saying I started the game with the world's worst kick-off. I can safely say I have topped that.

"I was looking to get under the ball for a slightly shorter kick-off. It was a bad kick-off call. Just one of those things. It strengthens you as a person."

Belief

Wilkinson stated that he never stopped believing England would triumph at any point during the tightly-fought clash, making the eventual defeat all the harder to take.

"I've been in good squads before in all parts of the world and I get a good feeling about this one," he said.

"You start to know that together you can do this. We believed the whole way through that game we were going to do it.

"Right now it's hurting. I've felt that bad before in games. We lost playing for Toulon with the video ref in the last minute against Montpellier.

"They hit you hard, but right now it's because of spending a lot of time with these guys in camp. I know what winning that game could have done for us.

"It's a big fall when you lose it in the last minutes."