Wilkinson and Manning - the brilliant playmakers in Twickenham and Miami on Super Bowl weekend

The origins of the two codes of the handling game are the same - the rough and ready ball games played in England in the early 1800s. But although they share the same roots the two games have evolved into two very different sports - except, that is, when you see a master playmaker directing the action as brilliantly as both Jonny Wilkinson, for England, and Peyton Manning, for the Indianapolis Colts, did last weekend. And they were also both great stories of triumph over adversity.

Jonny's return a delight for all Rugby fans

If ever there was a case study for young sportsmen to learn from it is that of Jonny Wilkinson - rarely has a player scaled the heights and plumbed the depths quite so comprehensively as England's fly half. After playing the crucial role in England's Rugby World Cup triumph in November 2003 Wilkinson has been so plagued by injuries that last Saturday's match against Scotland at Twickenham was his first match in England's colours since that World Cup final. Although he has played little rugby since recovering from the lacerated kidney he incurred last November he was selected for the Calcutta Cup match, and he performed brilliantly. In an almost impeccable performance, that deservedly won Wilkinson the 'Man of the Match' award, he not only scored 27 of England's 42 points but directed the play as of old. Fly half is the pivotal role in Rugby and the very best players control the game from that position - including (in American Football parlance) 'calling the plays'.

Peyton Manning shows his class

The day after Jonny Wilkinson directed the game in London the Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning did the same in Super Bowl XLI in Miami. Before the game Manning was being described as 'the best QB never to win a Super Bowl' but this year he had guided the Colts to their win in the AFC Championship game and hopes were high that he would be the spur of victory in the Bowl itself. He did not disappoint - directing the play to such an extent that he (like Jonny Wilkinson) won the MVP (Most valuable Player) award at the end. It was clear that we were in for quite a night from Manning when his 53 yard pass half way through the first quarter gave Wayne a touchdown to get the Colts back in the game after the Bears had taken an early lead. Manning barely looked back from that moment and the Colts overcame the Bears, and the appalling weather, to win their first ever Super Bowl.

Fumbles, interceptions and turnovers

Whilst American and Rugby Football are now rather distant cousins the opening moments of the Super Bowl could have been in either game. The Colts Vinatieri kicked off, the Bears Devin Hester fielded the ball and ran 92 yards for a touchdown. He could have been a Rugby full back on a very good day. The Bears quarterback Rex Grossman had the sort of day that a Rugby fly half would dread - he fumbled once, threw wayward passes two of which were intercepted, and in contrast to Peyton Manning, gave his team little chance. Rugby commentators now frequently use the terms 'fumble', 'interception' and 'turnover' to describe mistakes in the game - all terms most appropriately borrowed from American Football. The handling at Twickenham on Saturday was pretty good in dry conditions - in contrast to Miami where the driving rain contributed to the fumble count (2 by the Colts and 4 by the Bears). Rugby and American football are both possession games where the challenge is to recycle and set up a play from which you can score. But, as we saw with Wayne's brilliant opening score for the Colts on Sunday from Manning's long pass, and Jonny Wilkinson's equally brilliant try for England on Saturday, it is flair and inspiration that makes the difference.

Tributes from the coaches to the playmakers par excellence

After the two matches the coaches spoke of their most valuable players. The Colts Toby Dungy said 'Peyton is a tremendous player, a great leader, he prepares, he works, does everything you can do to win games and lead your team'. And England's Brian Ashton said of Wilkinson 'He's a world-class rugby player - in either code he would be a world-class player.' Ashton was talking about Rugby Union and its sibling Rugby League - but his remarks prompt the thought that Jonny might have made a rather good quarterback - and that perhaps if Peyton Manning had been born in Newcastle rather than New Orleans he might have made a pretty good fly half as well!