Jonny Wilkinson snubs Matt Dawson from his dream rugby backline

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 at 11:10

Plenty of England fans would have had Matt Dawson as their first pick in a dream backline, but Jonny Wilkinson made a different choice.

Wilkinson was asked to pick out his dream backline during a recent chat with Sky Sports.

And he picked some of the biggest names on the planet, including a trio of All Blacks legends, three Six Nations rivals and one England team-mate.

The legendary number 10 overlooked Dawson in favour of his lorry-driving Newcastle teammate Gary Armstrong.

9. Gary Armstrong (Scotland): “The sheer aggression and resilience of the guy, his sheer character meant that anything, any ball that wasn’t good enough to go out to the number ten was never going to go out to the number ten. He would deal with everything himself and that meant control of the game”
10. Lynagh, Carter, Larkham, Stransky, Fox: “This is the key position for any World Cup winning team. You need guys that are going to lead and continue to do so right to the final seconds when it gets very, very tough. I can't just pick one."

12. Tim Horan (Australia): “A guy that knew how to win, knew how to play the game. His body language suggested he didn’t really know how to fail or what mistakes were, what under performance was.”
13. Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland): “The ability to change the game in a second, a heartbeat, with his movement, with his skill, his game reading but also his leadership.”

11. Jonah Lomu (New Zealand): “The guy is quite a remarkable rugby legend and deserves to be so. No Rugby World cup team would be complete without him.”
14. Jason Robinson (England): “His flair, his game reading, his sheer explosivity to really change a game is something that sticks in my memory. We wouldn't have won the World Cup without him,”
15. Serge Blanco (France): "He typified French rugby at its best with his audacity, ambition and flair. He was most famous for his scintillating counter-attacks, frequently running the ball out of seemingly impossible situations."