England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, playing for the first time in 10 months, kicked 17 points on his Toulon debut on Friday as his new club held Stade Francais to a 22-22 draw in the French Top 14 curtain-raiser.
Injury-plagued Wilkinson confidently landed two monster kicks in the second half as his side eyed victory, leading 22-19 with three minutes left.
But he ended the evening sharing the limelight with Stade’s South African scrum-half Noel Oelschig, who also kicked 17 points, including an equalizing penalty three minutes from time.
PHOTO: AFP
Wilkinson eased his way into his new surroundings with a third-minute penalty before going wide with an attempted drop goal.
That miss was punished by Stade, who grabbed the first try of the new season in the 10th minute.
Stade’s powerful pack won a scrum against the head, allowing Oelschig to quickly release Argentine back-row forward Juan Manuel Leguizamon, who stepped inside two tackles to score.
Oelschig added the extra points for a 7-3 lead, which quickly became 10-3 when the South African was successful with a penalty.
But Toulon replied in the 20th minute, with a try scored by back-row Thomas Sourice after scrum-half Pierre Mignoni had charged down a hurried clearance by fly-half Brian Liebenberg.
Wilkinson, who spent eight seasons with Newcastle before joining the talent-drain to France, had the last word in the first half with the conversion and then a penalty for a 13-10 advantage.
The penalty was awarded against his English compatriot, lock James Haskell — making his Stade debut after switching from Wasps — who was sin-binned for played the ball on the ground at a ruck.
Despite Oelschig bringing Stade level at 13-13 with an early second-half penalty, Wilkinson then landed two more successful kicks to give Toulon a 19-13 lead.
A penalty followed by a drop goal from Oelschig’s boot pulled the Paris giants level at 19-19.
Wilkinson, with a giant drop goal, restored Toulon’s lead at 22-19, but Oelschig refused to be overshadowed and another drop secured the draw.
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