Mark Wilson has been England’s sensation of the season. For years, Newcastle have been telling anyone who would listen just how good their back-rower is – and now the rest of the country has caught up.
The 29-year-old has been a fixture in the national team throughout this 2018-19 campaign – playing every minute of every Test. When it came to a public ballot to decide the player of the autumn series, Wilson received 54 per cent of the votes and won by a landslide.
In recent weeks, he has taken the Guinness Six Nations by storm, as an influential figure in England’s back-to-back victories. His remarkable defensive feats have put him on course to shatter the all-time championship tackling record.
In the space of three months, the Cumbrian has gone from being a fringe World Cup squad candidate to an undroppable stalwart of the starting XV. Here, Sportsmail hears from the player himself, and others who have been part of his journey to this exalted peak…
England flanker Mark Wilson (centre right) is set to shatter the Six Nations tackling record
Mark Wilson (on the start of his club career)
I remember when I first rocked up at Newcastle. My PE teacher brought me over and there’s a one-way system when you get to the club. Jonny Wilkinson was driving out in his Golf and somehow we ended up blocking him in. I thought, ‘Oh no! Great start’.
Rob Andrew was in charge of the first team. My mam came to one of the sessions in the summer when he had his little shorts on and had a bit of a moment when he walked past!
The club sent me to play for Blaydon during my second year at uni. Amy (now his wife) was working in the bar. We met at the Christmas party. I was living in a flat with a couple of doormen and it was a rank student flat!
Amy’s mum is a proper motherly figure so, instead of going back to the flat for Super Noodles on a Tuesday night, I’d go back to Amy’s mam’s. She’d have dinner on the table, a bath run, do your washing – happy days! Chicken dinners at Amy’s mam’s. I used to have a special plate there that was like a serving dish. Proper Geordie family who’d do anything for you. It was nice.
He’s come a long way from the schoolboy that first rocked up at Newcastle with his PE teacher
Jim Huxley – Blaydon secretary
He came over as a teenager for two or three years. We’d just started in the national leagues. Every time he played, everybody talked about Mark Wilson. Someone would always buy him a pint after the match! He was never someone to shirk and people still talk about him that way today. He really bought into the club – he even married our stewardesses’ daughter, Amy.
He did the right things. He wasn’t one who you heard tales about. His parents are awfully nice people as well. They came to watch his games at Blaydon. Our average gate is probably 200 or 300. If it’s Tynedale in the derby then maybe it’s 1,500.
We had a reputation for being a ‘fendy’ club, we would always look after ourselves. It’s a Geordie saying. Mark is a fendy bloke. He was always there early, helping out with the coaches, cleaning the changing rooms. You’d never hear anyone say, ‘Mark’s a lazy bugger’.
Wilson has been described as a ‘fendy bloke’ by Blaydon secretary Jim Huxley
Tom Rock – former Blaydon coach
Mark was not long out of school. There was no doubt about his talent but what stood out was his work ethic. He was a hard-working, humble, good bloke. That’s how he is on the pitch.
A lot of the northern clubs had funding disparities, so we needed to be a tight-knit group. Mark really added to that. He had one of the Blaydon youth players running out with him as mascot the other day and that was Mark through and through.
He was 19-years-old but he was absolutely realistic in terms of where he was at. The lads would earn enough for a good night out on the Saturday. Probably £50 a match. He would probably have played for nothing, to be fair to the lad. We were a proper rugby club. We had some long journeys to matches down south.
Blaydon Races was the club song but we were never sober enough by the end of the bus trip to sing it coherently!
The forward’s work-ethic, a trait he still possesses, made him stand out at 19 at Blaydon
Micky Ward – Newcastle forwards coach
The big thing with Mark is, he’s a driven bloke and he’s got high standards. Now he’s been on tours and he’s been in camps with England, they’ve seen what he is like on a daily basis – how driven he is, how diligent he is and how hard he’s worked.
He sets standards, so if guys aren’t pulling their weight or doing what they’re supposed to do, Mark will kick their backside and say, ‘That’s not acceptable’. He makes sure people aren’t messing about. If he sees anyone drifting, he’s straight on it, saying: ‘Sort it out. Get it done’.
He’s always been like that. He’s never been the biggest guy in the world and he’s never been the fittest, but he had a goal, he knew what he wanted and he worked his backside off to get there.
He’s a genuinely good bloke. That’s why everyone is so pleased for him. He’s always got time for the lads. He’ll sit around and have the craic. He’s not shy but he’s not the loud one in the group, or the joker. He’s just him.’
The 29-year-old has been described as ‘driven’ by Newcastle forwards coach Micky Ward
Will Welch – Newcastle captain and back-row team-mate
Wils is modest, down-to-earth and works his socks off. All the lads at the club have known how good he is. We all thought that once he got that opportunity, he’d probably stay in there, because of how hard he works and how good a player he is. It was just a matter of time until the opportunity came along and he took it.
He’s a proper grafter. He’s good over the ball = that’s one of his big strengths. He’ll make 15 or 20 tackles every game and try to get his hands on the ball as much as possible. He runs some nice lines when he gets the opportunity.
You know if you’re alongside him, he’ll empty the tank. Whoever you’re up against, he will go full bore and he’s a tough bloke as well. He’ll put his head where some people won’t and he’ll tackle anything that comes at him.
There’s not really a secret recipe to him. He doesn’t do X-factor stuff, he’s just a proper, hard-working lad who gets stuck in.
He’s not loud and brash – he’s quite quiet. But he’s got a good sense of humour and he doesn’t take himself too seriously. When it comes to the business side of things, he’ll get his head on and be serious, but in between he’ll have a laugh.
Wilson is averaging 25 tackles a game so far through England’s two Six Nations matches
Neal Hatley – England coach
Ever since we took Wils to Argentina (in 2017), he’s unbelievably passionate and proud to play for England. He’s become a lot more vocal in training and he’s become a leader in the back row.
When we took him on that tour, Amy was expecting the birth of their first child, and it was almost a toss-up about which was more important to him. He is just so proud to play for England and it’s a pleasure to pick him every week, because he’s that proud and passionate about it.
The guys were talking about the Ireland game and, after about 25 minutes, they came in together in a group and he wandered in and just said, ‘How good is this?’ He’s that sort of bloke.
You want to work with him and players want to play with him because of the way he approaches every single day.
He works his backside off in training and you see that in Test matches as well.
He has played across the back row for us, at six, seven and eight, and he has done well in all three positions.
I think he’s become a more genuine threat as a ball-carrier. You saw him playing off the base at No 8 in the autumn and against Australia he carried as well as anyone in our forward pack.
Defensively, he’s always been very good and he puts his head over the ball. He’s a poach threat.
The Cambrian will hope to continue his fine form at the Principality Stadium on Saturday
