Wilkinson confident of being fit for South Africa clash

The fly-half will miss England's World Cup opener against USA on Saturday after twisting his ankle in training this week.

But the 28-year-old insists the problem is nowhere near as serious as the other injuries that have blighted his career since he dropped the winning goal in the 2003 final in Sydney.

"We have to wait to let it settle and recover, but it is not a long-term injury and while I am loath to be held to any sort of a date, I am looking at the South Africa match a week tomorrow as a game that I am hoping and still determined to play in," Wilkinson said in his column in the Times.

"In order for me to play against South Africa, at some point in the middle of next week I need to be working and running on the ankle properly. I am hugely positive mentally about that, especially given how quickly the ankle has settled down.

"It is a typical professional rugby injury - a bit of bad luck, you deal with it, quick recovery, short time out."

Medical opinion is divided on whether Wilkinson is right to be optimistic.

Matt Todman, a physiotherapist at London's Sports and Spinal Clinic, said: "As long as the ankle is taped properly, he should be pretty good by the South Africa game.

"Even though he's primarily a left-footed kicker, so his right foot bears the weight, he shouldn't be too badly affected. There are some quite clever ways of taping.

"Zinc oxide tape can act like a ligament."

However, Simon Moyes, an ankle specialist at The Wellington Hospital in London, said: "If we are praying, I can imagine he would be fit within three weeks.

"But it is more likely to be six weeks with an injury like this."