European triumph better than Rugby World Cup, Wilkinson says
Fly-half hero admits victory over Clermont means more to him than leading England to glory 10 years ago
Toulon hero Jonny Wilkinson says winning the European Cup was an even greater feeling than lifting the Rugby World Cup.
The 33-year-old flyhalf kicked four from four, including the clinching conversion, to help Toulon to a 16-15 victory over Clermont in Dublin's Lansdowne Road stadium.
Then moments like this give you an opportunity to look at it in a different way
It is 10 years since he fired England to World Cup glory with a last-ditch drop goal to beat hosts Australia, but he insisted that this victory meant even more to him.
"It's right up there and it sort of goes beyond [winning the World Cup] because life's in the now, it's not in the past," he explained. "It's always about the next goal you set yourself, and it gets better and better if you're with a club as good as this, so for me it ranks right up there."
Wilkinson enjoyed Six Nations and grand slam glory with England, but it seemed one of the all-time great flyhalves might never reach the pinnacle of European club competition.
In 2009, after 12 years with Newcastle Falcons during which he won just one league title and two Powergen Cups, he signed for ambitious Toulon and four years later he has earned his reward.