World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson has revealed how the sport has changed since his retirement.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, he had the world at his feet. He was playing the game in a way that no one else could, as he forged the next stage in the evolution of a fly-half.<\/p>\n
Having been retired for over a decade, he\u2019s now had time to reflect on just how much rugby has progressed since his playing days.<\/p>\n
When asked by ITV what\u2019s different about the players now, compared to those from his era, the 46-year-old said: \u201cProbably the inevitable speed, physicality, size, which creates this kind of extra level of power.\u201d<\/p>\n
But why have these attributes increased? Well, Wilkinson<\/a> believes that each generation before is \u201copening the door\u201d to something new, meaning that the generation below is having \u201cmore time to go through that door and do something with it\u201d.<\/p>\n What does that mean for the sport? According to the former England star, players are now reading the game differently, with a toolbelt of skills to call upon.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no longer your props just pushing the scrum,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n Ireland opens talks with Andy Farrell as fears grow over his future after mega offer tabled<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018well, no, you\u2019re a prop, and you\u2019re actually out on the wing\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at the French<\/a> team, you\u2019ve got those guys doing incredible things. And that\u2019s kind of this skilling up, as well as this physicality.<\/p>\n \u201cBut with that, all the training and the preparation, so, you know, it\u2019s going in a great direction, as long as it\u2019s still a game that unleashes this inner uniqueness that these players are bringing.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause that\u2019s when everyone walks home and thinks, \u2018wow, you know, what was that about? That was awesome.\u2019<\/p>\n Is there a ceiling, or are we constantly evolving?<\/p>\n With constant improvement since the emergence of the professional game, surely there has to come a stage where skill levels simply plateau? Wilkinson, however, claims that a spark of \u2018revolution\u2019 can still move things forward dramatically.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re always looking for that next generation to bring that energy of revolution, for someone to spot a hole in the game and say, \u2018this hasn\u2019t been done before\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got a Dupont<\/a> who\u2019s kind of been doing that. He\u2019s probably the most recent revolutioniser of a game, where you sort of go, \u2018Is that really possible to do that?\u2019<\/p>\n