Jonny Wilkinson's Biography

Jonny Wilkinson made his test debut against Ireland at Twickenham in April 1988, and since then the Newcastle Falcons fly-half became the only player in test rugby to average over 15 points a game.

Jonny Wilkinson was responsible for one of the great sporting moments with England's World Cup victory in 2003. The final against Australia culminated in the last seconds of extra time with a drop goal by Wilkinson to take the score to 20-17 in England's favour.

Wilkinson has a quality all-round game but his kicking has been phenomenal. In 2003 he had an extraordinary 90% success rate with kicks.

Jonny Wilkinson was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2003.

Successive injury problems kept Wilkinson out of international rugby after the World Cup, however he was selected by Clive Woodward to be a centre in the first test of the Lions against New Zealand in the 2005 tour.

Wilkinson admitted that Gavin Henson, who many believe should have played at centre, was a brilliant player.

Jonny Wilkinson was awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours 2002/2003.

In January 2007, Jonny Wilkinson was named in the England team versus Scotland in the Six Nations. Wilkinson had not played for England since the 2003 World Cup final because of a variety of injuries.

It was a triumphant return by Jonny Wilkinson, who was Man of the Match, scoring 27 points in England's 42 - 20 victory over Scotland.

Wilkinson came back from further injuries to become a crucial factor in England's surprisingly successful 2007 World Cup campaign during which Wilkinson became the highest points scorer in rugby World Cups.

England reached the final, but were beaten by South Africa. Afterwards Jonny Wilkinson revealed that he had played with an injury.

In January 2008, Jonny Wilkinson signed a new two-year deal with Newcastle.

In February 2008, in the Six Nations match against Italy, Jonny Wilkinson became the first player to score more than 1,000 points for England.

In September 2008, Jonny Wilkinson was injured again when he dislocated his knee.

In March 2009, there was speculation that Jonny Wilkinson, who can speak French, might join Toulon in the forthcoming season, after he met their chairman Mourad Boudjellal.

On 18 May 2009, it was confirmed that Jonny Wilkinson will play for Toulon with whom he agreed a two-year deal.

In November 2009, Jonny Wilkinson was selected to play for England for the first time in 18 months when he was called up to play Australia. Although, England lost 9-18, Wilkinson was widely regarded as having an excellent game.

The BBC has a revealing video of Jonny Wilkinson explaining how to take a kick.

In December 2010, Jonny Wilkinson agreed a two-year contract extension with Toulon.

On 26 February 2011, having come on as a substitute in England's victory over France, Jonny Wilkinson immediately scored a penalty to regain his position as the leading Test points scorer, taking his total to 1190, and overtaking New Zealand's Dan Carter.

Wilkinson was part of England's world cup squad in 2011, and both he and his fly-half rival Toby Flood played in the losing quarter-final side against France.

In 2011, soon after the world cup, Jonny Wilkinson published his autobiography.

In December 2011, he announced his retirement from international rugby.