Happy Birthday! Eight Crazy Things You Didn’t Know About Jonny Wilkinson

newspaper in 2009.

The former Newcastle Falcons fly-half kicked the winning drop-goal, handing the Red and Whites a dramatic title victory over Australia.

Wilkinson's brother, Mark, was also a Newcastle player who made 16 appearances in the Premiership for the side between 2002 and 2005, predominantly as a centre. His father, Phil, was a rugby player and cricketer, and his mother, Philippa, played squash at county level. His grandfather, Phil, also played football for Norwich.

"Berkshire, with my wife, Shelley, and our toddler. We’re fortunate to live in a lovely house in a great area surrounded by nice people, but we’re leaning towards moving somewhere more rural as we both love the outdoors, nature and space. We enjoy going for long walks. Windsor Great Park is a joy."

When former England centre Jeremy Guscott walked into the dressing room on the day of Wilkinson's international debut, he thought the 18-year-old had won a competition to spend the day with the national team. Wilkinson was said to be pretty annoyed with his initial assumption.

"The Roland piano and a couple of Fender guitars. They come with me because there’s no end to what you can do with them. If you put me in a room with a guitar, you won’t hear from me for weeks."

Wilkinson married his girlfriend of eight years, scaffolding company heiress Shelley Jenkins, in a private ceremony at the town hall of the French resort of Bandol. Only two guests, one of them Wilkinson's mother, were present at the ceremony officiated by Bandol mayor Christian Palix, who said that "both [are] viewed with great respect" in the community.

The couple met 15 years ago while she was working as a cocktail waitress in the Majorcan resort of Magaluf.

Wilkinson followed Buddhist principles and teachings to help control his perfectionist tendencies, according to an interview he gave with The Times

Jonny and Shelley became parents for the first time in late 2018. They keep their private life pretty much on lockdown, but according to reports, they had a little boy called James while they were still living in France.

Wilkinson is currently a studio pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations Championship, Rugby World Cup and other rugby events.