Andrew demanding protection for Wilko

The World Cup-winning fly-half could face similar harsh treatment against Tonga in Paris on Friday.

Wilkinson, whose career has been dogged by injury, was lucky to escape with only a cut on his bottom lip after Lima felled him with a tackle around the neck, having earlier missed with a left-arm swing which shaved the No10's head as he ducked.

Bristol centre Lima, 35, who earned his nickname because his fierce tackling tends to re-arrange bones, now faces a ban when he appears before the World Cup disciplinary panel.

Wilkinson scored 24 points in England's encouraging 44-22 win to become the second-highest scorer in World Cup history - he's only 21 behind the 227 of Scotland's Gavin Hastings - and the third player in history to register 1,000 Test points. That makes him an obvious target for the Tongans, who had flanker Hale T Pole sent off for use of the elbow in last week's 19-15 win over Samoa.

After a brave 30-25 defeat against South Africa on Saturday, the Tongans are confident of dumping England out of the tournament and will see stopping Wilkinson as a key element in their game plan.

Rob Andrew, the Rugby Football Union's elite rugby director, said: "You would hope Jonny is not going to be a target against Tonga. The officials have been strong, from a disciplinary point of view, in this tournament and have dealt with those things pretty harshly. We are comfortable everything is in place and that the players will be protected, particularly the key players."

Tonga captain Nili Latu is attempting to secure his country's first appearance in the last eight and said: "The match against England is going to be another hard one but if we keep believing, we have a good chance."

Wilkinson's boot, and his partnership with scrum- half Andy Gomarsall, settled the nerves against Samoa as the islanders fought back to 26-22 in the second half. A strong finish saw Paul Sackey and Martin Corry register their second tries to see England home.

Wilkinson said: "We are operating in a do-or-die culture at the moment and while there is relief at having beaten Samoa, we are now back into a situation where the same rules apply going into the Tonga match.

"After the first two games we were looking to change things. That's not the case now and we can be positive about what we achieved. We had to dig ourselves out of a sticky situation against Samoa but we got the momentum back. Paul Sackey showed his talent and I said last week that one of the keys would be to get those strengths out of the players and to see why they are here. We knew we were hanging by a thread."

England look certain to recall captain Phil Vickery after the Wasps prop's two-match ban for tripping, and wing Jason Robinson could be fit despite his hamstring problem.

England forwards coach John Wells believes the return of Vickery will give them even more firepower and said: "We have worked hard to ensure our forwards don't become set-piece monsters and we have to find the best way to use them once the ball has been won.

"We got a performance of sorts that was good enough to beat Samoa and need another one against Tonga. We are well aware of the quality of the Tonga team and this is not the same as playing them four or five years ago when you would put 50 or 60 points on them.

"They are using the players who are with European clubs and are experienced in the dark arts of winning ball. The Tongan back row is also a cracking combination and they are an inspiration to the rest of the team."