Donald McRae
Even the heaving trains pulling away from Twickenham seemed to belong to Jonny Wilkinson.
Two hours after he had broken the record for the most points scored in an international by an England player, the carriages were swaying in drunken tribute to the baby-faced kicker.
The girls, for once on a Twickers train, outsang the reeling toffs and the beery lads. “Oooo, angel face,” they crooned in a shambolic attempt at ethereal harmony, “he’s just a little angel face,” before the male majority caught on and joined in on the next chorus’s riotous confirmation that “Jonny’s just a little angel face”.
Wilkinson carries that eerie sense of destiny which marks out the greatest sportsmen in their youth, and so has his requisite amount of good fortune.
In this instance he is extremely lucky that the brooding likes of Jonah Lomu, Tana Umaga and the black skull-capped Josh Kronfeld were not forced to endure that grating ditty.
The All Blacks, however, already have sufficient motivation to nail Wilkinson early on Saturday.
After proving against Italy that he has the nerve and poise to control a crucial World Cup match, Wilkinson may yet end up like a scoop of Angel Delight beneath the combined weight of Lomu and Umaga or after Kronfeld, the world’s best open-side flanker, has stalked him for 80 minutes.
The All Blacks, when they last played England at Twickenham, in December 1997, were stunned by the uncharacteristic verve of the men in white. After 20 minutes, unbelievably, England led New Zealand 20- 3.
But they were still the impassive masters of the comeback and, at their black core, had extraordinary self-belief. Inexorably they began to chip away: on the hour it was England 23, New Zealand 26.
A late penalty secured England a draw, but the All Blacks’ recovery was a more enduring summary of the differences separating the teams.
But they have since lost some of their old certitude. Even two months ago, when they were approaching their supposedly invincible peak, there was no miraculous revival in Sydney. After slipping behind against Australia, they wilted in the face of the frenzied Wallaby tacklers.
The best hope England have of beating New Zealand will centre similarly on building an early lead through Wilkinson’s boot.
Clive Woodward and Martin Johnson were agreed on Saturday that, more than anything, the buffer of points Wilkinson provided discouraged the initially swarming Italians.
Yet the most heartening facets of Wilkinson’s performance were the versatile options he took as a decision-maker. He has a shimmering talent and grinding dedication, but his relentless cool suggests most that he might yet bend the Black barrier.
On Saturday he will face Andrew Mehrtens. When asked if he considers Mehrtens to be the best number 10 in the contemporary game, Wilkinson pulled off the old pro’s trick of studied evasion.
“It’s not a question I’d like to speculate on, because every team, and every fly-half, is here to win,”he said. “But Mehrtens is immensely talented and has a lot of experience. He obviously was a massive part of New Zealand’s surge in the last World Cup. I’m sure he will be a big factor in their performance this year.”
Wilkinson was as smooth when assessing his own performance against Italy.
“We played a solid game and if I did some things better than before, there was a lot of help from the other players. I missed a couple of kicks but the important thing is that the guys had confidence in me. I’m just glad I’m kicking well at the moment, but it’s taken a lot of work.”
As for his debut try, Wilkinson was as deadpan as he had been elated on the pitch.
“Yeah, it was all right,” he murmured. “It wasn’t my ideal try but it’s still a good feeling.”
A French television crew popped up and asked how he copes with “ze pressure”.
“There’s certainly a lot of pressure around the World Cup,” Wilkinson agreed. “I felt that when we went out today. It just so happened that we played well and I scored a few points.”
He smiled politely before ghosting away. They would soon be singing songs about his angel face on the trains outside, but Wilkinson looked as if he could already hear the more serious silence of New Zealand in his head. The All Blacks will be his real test.