Jonny Wilkinson's told to cut out big hits as he prepares for Twickenham return

Chris Jones
4 Nov 2009

Jonny Wilkinson has been ordered to keep himself out of harm's way ahead of his latest international comeback at Twickenham on Saturday.

The fly-half's career has been ravaged by injury since lifting the game's greatest prize in 2003 and he has yet to feature for England under Martin Johnson - a situation which has prompted the team's bosses to preach the importance of self-preservation.

Defence coach Mike Ford admits this new strategy depends on the World Cup winning outside half trusting his fellow players and refraining from attempting to halt every Wallaby attack with one of his thunderous tackles.

Wilkinson will be operating at No10 against Australia in a Twickenham international for the first time since the 2008 Six Nations championship after a dislocated knee ruined last season's campaign and convinced him to seek a new challenge with Toulon in France.

The fly-half, who has amassed a record 1,032 points in 70 England appearances, returns to the team to find new faces at scrum half and inside centre, with Danny Care and Shane Geraghty expected to fill those key roles when the team is announced later today.

Ford accepts that this unfamiliarity could see Wilkinson taking on too much defensive work, but two weeks of training ground routines have been specifically designed to keep the No10 out of unnecessary contact.

Ford explained: "Jonny is our best defender and so, at times, you want him to cover things. You always gee up the back row to get across and do their job but I have seen times at Toulon where if Jonny hadn't been there, the opposition would have scored.

"You think 'Blimey, is it worth carrying this on', because it could be too late to change him but I believe the more trust he has in his own players, the more he will stay in his position.

"It's his desire that I am talking about, he wants to cover every position and scenario. As the training sessions have gone on, that trust has grown and we have talked about the issues which could unfold and it's like a jig-saw unfolding in front of Jonny.

"I caught Jonny at training covering the open side and then shooting back down the blind and I told him we had it covered and explained why. He bought into it.

"I am sure in the heat of battle you will find Jonny making four tackles in a row - still. We don't want to take that away from him - that's what he is. The more he plays with this team, the more he will get confidence in the system and stay where he is."

Besides his points-scoring and amazing defence, Wilkinson will also be tasked with proving England can score tries against the Southern Hemisphere to help erase the memory of last season's troubled Autumn tests.

Team manager Martin Johnson saw his players suffer heavy losses against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and the challenge over the next three Saturday's is also formidable, with Argentina replacing the Springboks in the schedule.

Brian Smith, the England backs coach, is taking heart from the interest Australian coach Robbie Deans has been showing in Wilkinson's return. Smith said: "Jonny is a real factor in our attack and Robbie Deans is talking about him which is a good thing .

"Jonny is lethal as points scorer, a really good general and a great distributor. If the opportunity arises on Saturday to put width on the ball, there are few guys with his skills level in that area.

"We got the input from the players and established a way of playing that will highlight the strengths of the guys we have got."

Likely squad to face Australia: 15 U Monye (Quins), 14 M Cueto (Sale), 13 D Hipkiss (Leicester), 12; S Geraghty (Northampton), 11 M Bahanan (Bath), 10 J Wilkinson (Toulon), 9 D Care (Quins), 1 T Payne (Wasps), 2 S Thompson (Brive), 3 D Wilson (Bath), 4 L Deacon (Leicester), 5 S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), 6 T Croft (Leicester), 7 L Moody (Leicester), 8 J Crane (Leicester).

Reps: D Hartley, C Lawes (both Northampton), D Bell (Bath), J Haskell (Stade), P Hodgson (Lon Irish), A Goode (Brive), A Erinle (Biarritz).