Wilkinson praises team effort

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England¿s milestone man Jonny Wilkinson dismissed suggestions Italy should have been beaten by a bigger margin than Sunday's 23-19 Six Nations success.

England's milestone man Jonny Wilkinson dismissed suggestions Italy should have been beaten by a bigger margin than Sunday's 23-19 Six Nations success in Rome.

The Newcastle fly-half clocked up 1,000 points for England as he guided the World Cup finalists through a hazardous Italian job and revived their tournament ambitions.

He booted three penalties and converted early tries by wing Paul Sackey and centre Toby Flood but was full of praise for the Azzurri.

“It wasn't easy – Ireland found that last week and other teams will too,” he said, speaking to BBC Sport.

“Italy are a great side and we could have thrown it away.”

Wilkinson, who was replaced by Danny Cipriani on 67 minutes in a nail-biting finish at the Stadio Flaminio, was also quick to dismiss individual praise for the result.

“It was a case of trying to get out there and express myself on the field,” he added.

“I hoped in some way I could make a difference to the end result.

“But the guys all chipped in, they were brilliant to a man – right through to the substitutes' bench. We were fantastic.”

The current top ten points scorers in Test history:

(1) 1,090 – Neil Jenkins (Wales)
(2) 1,056 – Jonny Wilkinson (England)
(3) 983 – Diego Dominguez (Italy)
(4) 967 – Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
(5) 911 – Michael Lynagh (Australia)
(6) 878 – Matt Burke (Australia)
(7) 873 – Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
(8) 801 – Ronan O'Gara (Ireland)
(9) 733 – Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
(10) 676 – Dan Carter (New Zealand)