When Harry met rugby hero Jonny - for Sport Relief

“It was my passion. I loved it.” England rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson is talking about the work ethic that enabled him to deliver when it mattered most - his famous drop-goal to win the World Cup in 2003.

Work ethic, passion and desire taking a sportsman to his destiny - ring any bells?

They are certainly words associated with Harry Kane’s rise to the top, driven by a desire to initially prove himself good enough to play for Spurs and continued in his work every day at Hotspur Way.

Now 38, Jonny paid a visit to Hotspur Way last month to film for Sport Relief with Harry, Dele Alli and Eric Dier, plus another World Cup winner - a certain Sir Geoff Hurst - and comedian John Bishop. The sketch will appear as part of a seven-hour TV marathon starting at 7pm on BBC1 on Friday.

Below: Harry welcomes Jonny to Hotspur Way

Knowing that Harry’s pathway from Academy youngster to loanee to Spurs regular and now 134-goal record breaker was and still is driven by the same principles, it was too good an opportunity to miss to ask Jonny – how did you do it?

First, let’s go back to 22 November 2003 and the World Cup Final.

Australia kicked a penalty to make it 17-17 with 90 seconds left of extra time. England restarted, Australia collected the ball and kicked into touch. There was just over a minute left when England had the chance to launch one more attack from a line-out.

The line-out was won, England pushed forward and with 30 seconds on the clock, the ball was passed back to Jonny, approximately 25 metres out, left of centre. He collected and arrowed a drop-goal between the posts. England won 20-17.

It was a career-defining moment and yet at the age of 24, Jonny went on to achieve so much more. He was the leading points-scorer in international rugby until being overtaken by All Blacks legend Dan Carter in 2011. He won four Grand Slams with England and in club rugby, the English Premiership with Newcastle in 1998 and Heineken (European) Cup winner with French team Toulon in 2013 and 2014.

Below: That magic moment - Jonny strikes to win England the World Cup in 2003

All that alongside spending the best part of four years battling a series of injuries between 2004-2008.

The similarities between him and Harry, those dedicated hours on the training pitch, were put to Jonny.

“Maybe in a game I’d get eight, nine penalties maximum, minimum one, but I would kick for two hours a day throughout the week,” he explained.

“It’s one or two things for me that made the difference. First passion, I loved it. I loved being out there and exploring the skills.

“Two was understanding the impact it (kicking penalties) could have on the team and more than anything, the desire to master something. If this is your job, your passion then the desire to master it, to become one with it, was always the goal for me, to have that absolute control and understanding of the skill.

“I spent so much time out there and loved it. You always want to make sure you get it right, so that’s why you are practising and if you get the chance, you want to take it. You don’t want the team to miss out.

“Some things are out of your control but what is in your control is how you go about your business, what you do and how you do it.

“It sounds like Harry is someone eager to do just that - whatever is in his control, look after it, to explore his skills. When you are then faced with a situation in a game, that’s what you call upon.

“In that situation (for example, kicking that drop-goal in the World Cup Final) you have to have the mindset to pull from what you’ve learned.

“Ultimately, when someone looks after what is in their control, you get amazing results and it sounds like that’s the recipe for Harry.”

As he gazed out over our world-class facilities at Hotspur Way, it was put to Jonny if there had been any football/rugby crossover in his playing days.

Below: Jonny laces a ball at Hotspur Way

“I did an advert with David Beckham back in the day,” he said. “I started looking at free-kicks and getting that obsessive thing about hitting free-kicks. I started to do that. I enjoyed that.

“We also kicked footballs and that was an eye-opener. It’s not the easiest just because the ball is round! We learn a lot from that.

“There was an admiration not just about how footballers go about their sport but also something we don’t have so much and that’s touch. We’re used to hitting hard and if we kick a ball, we normally smash it. The touch and the feel in football, how to move a ball, the weight of a pass, that, for us, was where we said ‘wow’.“

My grandad used to play for Norwich. I never really got to play too much when I was younger due to other sports I was playing but I was in Newcastle for 13 years and you don’t get to stay in that city for long before being introduced to the passion for the sport there. I’ve always had an interest but never really had the time to get stuck in.”

Spurs fan and NBA great Steve Nash told us back in 2016 about the ‘grieving’ all sportsmen and women have to go through at the end of their careers, especially if they have competed at the elite level, as they look to fill that void.

It’s something Jonny had to deal with in 2014 when he retired, typically, after kicking 15 points in a Top 14 Cup Final win for Toulon.

He added: “When I was injured for four years in the middle of my career, I probably dealt with all those feelings then because of what I went through. I looked at life more deeply and realised then that the same things that were helping me with my sport, could also help with my life. The more you practice, the better you get. The more you practice life, the older you get, the better you get as well - so my life gets better as I get older.”