Jonny injury drama

Jonny Wilkinson may have played the World Cup Final with a shoulder fracture, it was revealed today.

The England fly-half, whose drop kick defeated Australia with seconds remaining, was discovered to have a suspected shoulder and neck fracture following an X-ray. He will also undergo a CT scan tomorrow morning.

The 24-year-old has been pulled out of his Newcastle Falcons club match this weekend. The injury is believed to have happened in the first half of the Final, when Wilkinson tackled Australia's Matt Giteau.

He said afterwards: "I went in to hit the guy but he is good at changing his angle at the last moment. I caught him full on."

Wilkinson lay motionless as play moved deep into Australian territory.

He added: "The impact compressed my neck and I am susceptible to injury at that point. I had stinging pain down my arm and I knew it was serious. I feared my World Cup was over."

The injury may mean Wilkinson missing England's match against the New Zealand Barbarians at Twickenham tomorrow week. Newcastle stressed it had nothing to do with a car accident he was involved in on Tuesday.