London — Jonny Wilkinson’s last-second drop goal to win the Rugby World Cup for England in 2003 against Australia earned him iconic status but left him feeling empty and unable to cope. The former England flyhalf, who turns 40 in May, told the Daily Mail that he turned into a “horrible” person who was unhappy in the spotlight and beset by fears of the unknown. It was only after he quit the game and began life away from the spotlight that he began to finally find happiness. “I thought I had done everything it was possible to do at the age of 24. I thought I was the man. I realised I couldn’t have been further from the truth,” he said. “I started trying to control everyone else. You ask anyone around me at that time, I was horrible. But life is absolutely amazing now.” Wilkinson, who has recently welcomed into the world his first child, says retirement has taught him he can be a much happier person in disappearing into the background and not having to cope with daily adulation as he h...
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