Workaholic Wilko given go ahead

13 April 2012

Jonny Wilkinson has been given specialist clearance to hurl himself into the new English Premiership season next weekend without any further recovery from his Lions exertions.

England?s workaholic fly half was back in training on Tyneside yesterday, declaring himself ready for Newcastle?s demanding home start against European champions Leicester on Sunday week while almost the entire cast of the Australian adventure will lick their wounds for up to four more weeks.

When the curtain rises on what Newcastle manager Rob Andrew acclaims as ?the most exciting season in professional club rugby?, Wilkinson will find himself in an otherwise Lions-free zone. The Tigers, aiming for a hat-trick of domestic titles, will not be rushing anyone back.

Their heavyweight list, headed by Martin Johnson, includes Martin Corry, Neil Back, Dorian West and Austin Healey, whose bid for a Pulitzer Prize on the back of hailing Australian lock Justin Harrison as ?an ape? is to be the subject of a Lions disciplinary hearing in Dublin a fortnight today.

?None of our Lions will start the season,? manager Dean Richards said. ?They are all very keen to come back but they have all played a lot of rugby in the last few years. We are trying to be as fair to them as we possibly can and we will give them as long as possible.?

By the time the season starts, seven weeks will have elapsed since that anticlimactic Saturday night in Sydney and Wilkinson, now all of 22, considers that to be long enough especially now that fears of a groin operation have been allayed, at least for the time being.

Predictably, he is less than thrilled at the RFU limiting their elite players to 32 matches per season, a typical response from a player whose slavish devotion to goalkicking extended to a lengthy practice on Christmas morning last year. The minute he reported for duty at Kingston Park, he let Andrew know that he was ?available for selection?.

?I didn?t really think about taking a break,? he said. ?I had a couple of weeks in Spain with some rugby friends. I had a good rest, messing about in the swimming pool and relaxing in the sun. I did manage to switch off.?

He still found time to train, relieved that the groin trouble which flared in training two days before the Lions left for Australia will not disrupt a season which heralds his European Heineken Cup debut with Newcastle, as well as nine England Tests between October and April.

?My groin probably will need surgery at some stage in the future but the specialist has advised me there is no immediate problem,? Wilkinson said. ?I?m fit mentally and physically and I would have been back training last week but for a virus which knocked the stuffing out of me for four or five days.

?If I?m fit, I?d love to play every game. It?s good that the RFU has put an emphasis on rest but I find it difficult not to play when I am fit, watching the rest of the team put their bodies on the line when I feel I ought to be out there with them doing my bit for the team.

?I know when I?m fit to play and when I?m not. The massively competitive nature of the Premiership is going to make this the most exciting season of all and it will be extremely difficult for me to sit on the sidelines because you have used up your quota of games for the season.? In theory, England?s nine-match schedule allows Wilkinson to play 23 matches for Newcastle out of a possible 38 should they go the full distance in all three competitions.

?Jonny played 24 matches for us last season so it shouldn?t be a problem,? Andrew said. ?We will manage him by deciding what?s best for him and what?s best for the club.?

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