Icon profileRugby union
Jonny Wilkinson and the adidas Predator
Every other Icon on this site is a footballer. Jonny Wilkinson never played professional football, and he still belongs here.
The Predator was invented to help players strike a ball with more control, more swerve and more certainty. For a decade and a half, no athlete in any sport depended on striking a ball more than Wilkinson did. Penalties, conversions, touch-finders and drop goals: England’s points, and often England’s results, came off his boot. And that boot was a Predator.
1998–2001: The Boy With the Boot
Wilkinson made his England debut in 1998, aged just 18, and it was obvious straight away that his kicking was something different. At his first Rugby World Cup in 1999, he marked his tournament debut against Italy with 32 points: a try, six conversions and five penalties.
By 2001 he was on the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, and he was becoming the most important player in English rugby.
2003: Beckham, Wilko and the Predator
In the summer of 2003, adidas did something that told you exactly how it saw Wilkinson. It put him alongside David Beckham, the most famous Predator wearer in the world, in a campaign for the boot.
The ads had the two England men swap sports. Beckham coached Wilkinson on kicking a football; Wilkinson returned the favour with a rugby ball. Both wore Predators. The dialogue was improvised, and by all accounts each was surprisingly good at the other’s game.
Months later, in the Predator Mania, Wilkinson produced the most famous kick of the Predator era in any sport: the extra-time drop goal, off his weaker right foot, that beat Australia 20-17 and won England the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He was named IRB Player of the Year.
Read the full story: Wilkinson, Sydney 2003: The Drop Goal That Won a World Cup
2004: The Face of the Pulse
Less than three months after Sydney, on 5 February 2004, Wilkinson was at the adidas Centre in Stockport for the launch of the new Predator Pulse. The World Cup winner wore the new boot for the cameras.
It is the clearest sign of where he stood with the brand. A football boot launch was fronted by a rugby player, because in early 2004 nobody in Britain was a better advertisement for what the Predator promised.
2007: “79th Minute. All Square.”
Injuries took years out of the middle of Wilkinson’s career. He fought back in time for the 2007 World Cup in France, and on the eve of England’s final against South Africa, adidas ran a full-page black-and-white ad built around a close-up of his hands in his pre-kick routine. The line read “79th minute. All square. Impossible is Nothing.”
He had earned it. In the semi-final against France, Wilkinson landed another drop goal, from 40 yards, to seal the win. England lost the final to South Africa, but Wilkinson became the first player to score points in two Rugby World Cup finals.
2009–2014: Toulon, the Predator X and the RX
In 2009 Wilkinson left Newcastle Falcons, after twelve seasons, for Toulon. In the south of France he found a second golden era, winning two Heineken Cups and a Top 14 title in five seasons.
His boots moved with the Predator line. adidas produced rugby versions of the Predator, with rugby-specific colourways and studs, and around 2010 he was wearing a tailored version of the Predator X, the first Predator without the famous fold-over tongue. At the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, his fourth, he wore the Predator RX, first in black and electric green and later in white, gold and black.
He retired from international rugby after that tournament, and from all rugby in 2014.
The Routine
Anyone who watched Wilkinson kick remembers the ritual: the careful placing of the ball, the steps back and to the side, the crouch, and the hands clasped together in front of him while he pictured the kick before he took it.
Behind the routine was an obsession with practice. Working with his kicking coach Dave Alred, Wilkinson drilled both feet until his weaker right could be trusted under the heaviest pressure imaginable. The drop goal in Sydney was that work paying off.
Wilkinson’s Predators at a Glance
| Year | Boot | The moment |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Predator Mania | Predator campaign with Beckham; World Cup-winning drop goal |
| 2004 | Predator Pulse | Fronted the boot’s launch in Stockport |
| 2007 | Predator | “79th minute. All square.” campaign; second World Cup final |
| 2010 | Predator X (rugby version) | Tailored pairs at Toulon |
| 2011 | Predator RX | Fourth and final World Cup |
The Numbers
Wilkinson won 91 caps for England and six for the Lions, scoring 1,246 Test points. When he retired, only New Zealand’s Dan Carter had scored more. His England record includes 36 drop goals, and his 277 Rugby World Cup points remain a tournament record. He was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2016.
Collecting Wilkinson
Rugby memorabilia is a smaller market than football’s, but Wilkinson is at the very top of it. Match-worn pairs carry “Wilko” stitched on the tongues. One black, red and white adidas pair, worn in the warm-up matches before the 2003 World Cup and passed on by Dave Alred, has been through the auction room at Graham Budd.
For Predator collectors, the rugby versions are a niche worth knowing about. adidas made rugby-only colourways and team samples of several Predator generations, and many were produced in far smaller numbers than the football boots.
Frequently Asked Questions
What boots did Jonny Wilkinson wear?
Adidas Predators, for almost his entire career. He starred in adidas’s Predator campaign with David Beckham in 2003, won the World Cup in the Predator Mania, fronted the launch of the Predator Pulse in 2004, wore a rugby version of the Predator X around 2010, and wore the Predator RX at the 2011 World Cup.
Did Jonny Wilkinson wear Predators in the 2003 World Cup final?
Yes. He wore the Predator Mania, the Predator of the day, in the same year he starred in adidas’s Predator campaign with David Beckham.
Was Jonny Wilkinson left-footed?
Yes. His left was his stronger foot, which is why the World Cup-winning drop goal, struck with his right, is so celebrated.
Did adidas make Predator rugby boots?
Yes. adidas produced rugby versions of several Predator generations, including rugby colourways of the Predator X and the Predator RX, which Wilkinson wore at the 2011 World Cup.
How many points did Jonny Wilkinson score?
1,246 Test points for England and the Lions, second only to Dan Carter when he retired, and a record 277 points at Rugby World Cups.
Read more: Wilkinson, Sydney 2003: The Drop Goal That Won a World Cup · David Beckham and the adidas Predator · Predator Pulse · All Predator Icons