Thompson's neck on the line

In his dreams, he has a timetable which goes something like this.

Tomorrow night, the miraculous comeback continues at Newcastle, in the colours of his French club Brive. By next month, the 29-year-old plans to have shed another seven kilos — taking him down to his 'fighting weight'.

Soon after the New Year, he expects to be match-fit and producing Test standard performances.

With hope restored, why not aim high? So Thompson believes he can earn an England recall during the Six Nations which, remarkably, could take him all the way to the next World Cup in New Zealand in 2011. It is by no means an idle fantasy.

The former Northampton hooker, one of Sir Clive Woodward's world champions of 2003, is awash with renewed optimism — and understandably so. Six months ago he was finished.

One bang on the head too many led to a loss of sensation in his right side, a neck operation, a warning from doctors that his job could cost him his life and a premature retirement.

But since joining Brive in September as a coaching adviser, his terms of employment have changed. Having caught the rugby bug again, Thompson visited surgeons in Lyon and Bordeaux who studied the evidence and declared he could play, as did an expert in America.

So last Friday he took the plunge, coming on for an hour against Connacht in the European Challenge Cup — at flanker, then at lock.

Despite admitting his comeback had left him 'very sore', Thompson will plough on. 'I can definitely be as good as I was before, if not better,' he said. 'I am older and wiser now and I can improve as a player in France.

'I would say I can be matchfit again and playing to international standard by January.

By then I will have miles in my legs in the front row. The Six Nations is a long tournament, so you never know. Even if I am not involved at the start I could force my way into the squad.

'It might be possible but then again I might not even be in their thinking. I am not jumping up and down saying "Pick me, pick me". England picked Perry Freshwater from Perpignan, but I don't know how they will feel about selecting me while I'm playing in France.'

Thompson will need insurance cover in the UK before being eligible for England again and that will not be a formality given the substantial pay-out he received this year which he is negotiating to pay back. Nonetheless, he cannot contain the re-awakening of buried ambitions.

'By the time of the next World Cup I will only be 33,' he said. 'So age wise, I will be fine and in terms of fitness I intend to get my sharpness back very soon. I always dreamed of winning 50 caps and I am on 47.

'Players who make it to a few World Cups — people like Lawrence Dallaglio or Jason Leonard — have always had injuries along the way and the time out of the game helps keep them fresh. Hopefully, the same has happened for me because I had never really had big injuries before.'

Thompson took heart from the sight of England's Mark Regan performing at the recent World Cup at the age of 35.

While the Bristol hooker is unlikely to be considered for future selection, there is competition in the form of Leicester's George Chuter, Lee Mears of Bath and Northampton's Anglo- Kiwi tyro Dylan Hartley.

Leaving the Saints has worked wonders for Thompson.

'I had become stale,' he said. 'Coming to France, I am out of my comfort zone and it has spurred me on. When I do fitness sessions now I am putting everything into them. It had got to the point where I was going through the motions. I had lost my enthusiasm.'

At some point, Thompson will have to hurl himself into a first match-day scrum at hooker since January. He would be forgiven a moment of trepidation but that mental barrier has already been overcome in training.

'I took part in a "live" scrummaging session last week and in one scrum I got it slightly wrong,' he said.

'I hit the top of my head as the others came in and I just thought, "Oh no". There was a feeling in my neck that did not seem right but everything quickly returned to normal.

'In the past it would have been numb but this time I was fine. My neck is stronger than it was but that was the knock I needed to convince me everything is OK.'

During England's World Cup matches, Lewis Moody and Joe Worsley would pick out Thompson in the stands and laugh at the sight of him enjoying a glass of red wine.

Now the hooker is happy to let others enjoy the claret while he prepares to spill blood for Brive and maybe, just maybe, his country.