Chris Hewett writes in the Independent (UK)

Toby Flood, the Newcastle midfielder who has it in him to provide a lasting solution to one of England’s most pressing positional problems, made a number of striking comments at red-rose base camp yesterday, the least accurate of which was that Jonny Wilkinson “played really well” against Wales in the opening round of the Six Nations Championship. The inside centre could hardly have said otherwise, of course – public criticism of a colleague is not part of the professional sportsman’s code – but even this entirely predictable response to a loaded question about the most celebrated figure in world rugby put the Wilkinson issue in an intriguing light.

The Wilkinson issue? Absolutely. If it is true to say that Twickenham Man blamed last Saturday’s spellbindingly numbskulled defeat on anyone but Saint Jonny – around the bars and burger stalls after the game, Flood himself was taking more stick than his partner – it is equally true that there are none so blind as those who will not see. The fact of the matter was that Wilkinson performed as badly in the second half as Flood played brilliantly in the first – that while the youngster was the least of England’s concerns, the elder man was to be found at the other end of the spectrum.

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