WHEN it comes to dedication in the pursuit of perfection, there is no-one more devoted than England wonder-kicker Jonny Wilkinson.

The Newcastle Falcons fly-half is readily regarded as the finest No 10 on the planet, the complete article.

But to get to this stage Wilkinson has never been afraid to put the hours in on the practice ground, with it common knowledge that the 22-year-old is a compulsive trainer.

However, Scrum Down has been led to believe that Jonny is not the first Wilkinson to have this persevering attitude to the game.

In fact it was at Pocklington School where Phil Wilkinson, Jonny's father, honed the skills that he would pass on to his son.

Phil, a pupil at the school in the late 1960s, was better known to his team-mates in the Pocklington School side as 'Acer' - which is pronounced 'Acka' and is Latin for keen.

Wilkinson senior, who played on the blindside when Pocklington's director of rugby Tim Clappison was the school's captain and No 8, was also noted for his monster kicks - sound familiar? - and this was in the days of the heavy leather rugby balls.

The Pocklington-Wilkinson link has certainly paid dividends for the Percy Road club with Jonny, who captained England against Italy last Sunday, set to make the draw for the famous John Smith's Bank Holiday Pock Sevens this year.

Wilkinson has made the draw in the past for Pock, as have fellow Newcastle Falcons players Va'aiga Tuigamala, Rob Andrew and Dave Walder, but there was only one person the club wanted to do the honours this year.

When Pock made the approach they were offered the services of Andrew, but they asked if Wilkinson would do it, so their contact at Falcons said he would find out - promptly going out to the training ground were the boy wonder was unsurprisingly going through his kicking drills.

Within seconds Wilko had agreed saying: "Anything for Pocklington!"

This year's tournament, set to be the biggest yet in the 45-year history, has already seen 31 clubs apply to take part - with only 24 set to be successful.

Last year saw the York-based Impalas take the tournament by storm, with the Army side beating Hull in the final - with more 2,000 people taking advantage of the baking weather to descend on Percy Road.

THE Yorkshire RFU have praised York RI Under-16s for their quick-thinking in stopping an alleged sneak thief at their ground on Sunday.

As reported in the Evening Press on Monday, the boys stopped a man in his 20s from getting away from and held him for the police after he was caught acting suspiciously around the changing rooms and then ran away when confronted.

And YRFU secretary Mark Roberts, who was notified of the boys' heroics by Scrum Down, has congratulated the lads and the club.

"I'm pleased that the club has been able to bring an alleged suspect to the police's attention," he said. "This serves as a warning, not just to rugby clubs, but to all sports clubs about these thefts as they have been on the rise.

"It is good that the RI official was so vigilant in alerting the Under-16s and it is good the lads were capable of assisting.

"I have seen a few of the RI lads, and they would be quick enough and physically able to stop most people from escaping."

A man appeared before York Magistrates this week denying any theft from the changing rooms.

FORMER England U16s 'A' full-back Charlie Allen has shown he has the talent to bridge the gap from juniors to seniors.

Now 17, Allen is allowed into the senior sides andthe Woldgate School pupil showed what he is capable of with two tries on his debut for the Panthers - Pock's second team - against Ilkley.

Updated: 09:11 Saturday, March 15, 2003