The fly-half holds the world record for drop goal scoring in international matches, with a tally of 36. He has also toured twice with the British and Irish Lions, scoring 47 Test points in Australia in 2001 and New Zealand in 2005. In 2016, Wilkinson was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Today, the 39-year-old is a television rugby commentator on ITV Sport, having covered the Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. Despite his retirement, he still likes to keep himself fit and has a strict healthy eating regime, and what he describes as a "madman" training regime at the gym.
By C Akin - CC BY-SA 2.0 / David Sedlecký, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rise to fame
Born in May 1979, in Farnham, he enjoyed playing rugby in his youth and went to professional rugby training camps while a student at Pierrepont School, where he was a star player in the school team. On leaving school, he joined Farnham Rugby Club's youth team.
Despite being academically adept, passing A-levels in French, chemistry and biology, he sacrificed his place at university because he wanted to play rugby professionally and joined Newcastle Falcons instead.
This was the start of his illustrious career, during which he played for Newcastle, England and Toulon, always earning the respect of teammates and the British public by training hard and giving his all on the pitch.
He was already in the full England Test squad by the time he was 18. In 2000, when he was still only 21, he played in all of England's Six Nations matches. They went on to win the championship, after which Wilkinson toured South Africa with the squad, kicking all of the points in their memorable 27-22 win in Bloemfontein.
As a member of the British Lions team that beat Australia 29-13 in the first test in Brisbane, he scored nine points. He was picked as England captain for the first time in the Six Nations Championship 2003.
World Cup 2003
Perhaps his most memorable moment was when England won the 2003 World Cup. With the score in the final between England and Australia level at 17-17, there were only 26 seconds of extra time left when Wilkinson kicked a stunning drop goal, giving England a 20-17 victory.
It was particularly notable, since it was Australia's first defeat in a World Cup since 1995. Wilkinson was honoured with an MBE in 2003 and an OBE in 2004 for services to rugby union.
Despite a career beset with injuries, including a broken shoulder sustained at the World Cup in 2003, a medial knee ligament injury in 2005 (which recurred in 2006) and a dislocated knee in 2008, among other injuries, he still remained at the top of his game, largely as a result of his extreme fitness and dedication to his training regime.
He became the first English player to get to 1,000 Test points, when he scored in the Six Nations Championship against Italy in 2008.
End of an era
Wilkinson left Newcastle and joined French club Toulon in 2009. He played his final match for them on 31st May 2014 in an 18-10 victory against Castres, in the final of the French domestic rugby union cup. Marking the end of an era, he left on a high, having scored 15 of the 18 points.
He took a part-time training role with Toulon after his playing days came to an end and was honoured again in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, when he received the CBE for services to rugby.
Following his retirement from the sport that had been such a big part of his life, he admitted in interviews that he found it hard to adapt initially. He found it an "intense struggle" without playing rugby every day and adopted a "madman" approach to working out at the gym.
His “addiction” to working out extended to spending hours every day kicking a rugby ball and continuing with his training routine.
However, in May this year, Wilkinson announced he and wife Shelley were expecting their first baby. Speaking of their joy, he said he finally no longer missed playing rugby and that his life was a "huge journey."
His wife is studying nutrition, so he's watching his diet and still keeping fit. He says he carries walnuts, raisins and seeds with him as a healthy snack and no longer has cereal and toast for breakfast, preferring nutritional juice made from cucumber, apple, celery, carrot and ginger.
He has revealed that he's also learning to cook healthy meals, thanks to his wife, but admits he still has a lot to learn.
The star has launched the Jonny Wilkinson Foundation - a charity to support people in the community who have mental health concerns, so nobody is left to struggle alone.
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