Like David Beckham, England rugby star Jonny Wilkinson has the good looks to grace magazine covers and the ability to win a match with a single kick.
Although he isn't married to a pop star and hasn't earned as much as the England soccer captain, Wilkinson has something Beckham doesn't -- a World Cup winner's medal.
PHOTO: AP
It should make him rugby's first multi-millionaire superstar.
When the England rugby team arrived home from Australia with the World Cup on Tuesday, Wilkinson received the sort of hero's welcome that even Beckham would have envied.
Some 8,000 fans showed up before dawn at Heathrow Airport to greet the team, which beat defending champion Australia 20-17 in Sydney on Saturday to win rugby's biggest prize and knock soccer off the front and back pages of English newspapers for three days.
In the most dramatic World Cup final ever, Wilkinson kicked the winning drop goal with just 26 seconds remaining in extra time.
It would be like Beckham bending home a free kick in the final minute of extra time against Brazil at the 2006 World Cup final.
While that remains little more than a hope for the England soccer captain, it's reality for Wilkinson. His popularity in English sport now matches the appeal of the Real Madrid and former Manchester United star.
``What makes Jonny Wilkinson unique is that he's a winner, and that's where the potential lies,'' public relations expert Max Clifford said. ``Jonny Wilkinson is the best in the world at what he does. How long is it since we could honestly say, `He's the best in the world and he's British?''
There's even talk of a possible knighthood for Wilkinson -- Sir Jonny -- at age 24, and sponsorship contracts worth ?20 million (US$32.2 million) over the next four years. The Newcastle Falcons star is rugby union's highest paid player with a yearly salary of ?200,000 (US$322,000) and sponsorship deals worth around ?1.3 million (US$2.1 million). He can now expect those figures to double.
Unlike Beckham, Wilkinson doesn't embrace the limelight. When it comes to comparisons with England soccer stars, Wilkinson is more like Michael Owen than Beckham.
"He has a personality and he comes across as a very modest, dedicated, unassuming lad," Clifford said. "He has all the qualities that we love in our national sporting heroes."
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