MY BELIEF has always been that if you are one of the best players in the country, you should be playing for one of the best clubs, be it Wasps, Leicester, Bath, Sale or Gloucester.

This puts me at odds with Jonny Wilkinson because he is clearly one of the best players of his generation and he is not at one of the best clubs.

I understand his reasons for joining Newcastle when he did – it was an opportunity to link up with his old schoolteacher, Steve Bates, and he believed he was going to a club that would grow into one of the very best in Europe.

But that hasn’t happened. Newcastle have not yet fulfilled their potential and I believe that, as the best fly-half in the country, if not in the world, he should be playing for one of the top clubs.

After we won the World Cup, I read an article in which Jonny talked about wanting to win the Premiership and the Heineken Cup with Newcastle and I thought to myself, ‘He’s either kidding himself or we’re blind to what’s happening at his club’.

To win anything, they would have to improve dramatically. To improve enough to win a Premiership or a Heineken Cup would take a number of years. Of course, Newcastle is a progressive club, but to become a dynasty, to become a club that is successful year on year, that takes a long time to achieve.

When Martin Johnson was in his prime, he was captain of a dominant Leicester side, and I was at my best in the years when I captained a successful Wasps team.

Farther afield, the outstanding New Zealand No 10, Dan Carter, doesn’t play for Southland, he plays for the top province, Canterbury.

Jonny’s had extraordinary bad luck with injuries and because he has missed so many matches, he probably feels a huge loyalty to Newcastle, but his first loyalty has to be to himself. Would he have had as many injuries playing behind a pack that protected him better than Newcastle’s forwards can?

Perhaps I’m wide of the mark here and Newcastle will soon become a powerful force in English club rugby but I know that if I was England coach I would want Jonny playing in a squad that had 20–25 internationals, rather than for a club where he is very much the main man. If I had been in Jonny’s boots, I would have considered leaving Newcastle a long time ago – but as I’ve already indicated, I think you’ve got to be more selfish than he has been. As much as Jonny values his privacy and appreciates the lifestyle he can have in the northeast, i think that can become an excuse.

I know that at the end of my career, I will look back and feel pleased to have been part of a team that won two Heineken European Cups, four Premierships, three domestic cups and one European Challenge Cup.

It’s not about ticking boxes or collecting medals but being part of a club that has a realistic shot at the biggest prizes.