Newcastle fly-half Jonny Wilkinson is nearing a return to action after a five-month injury lay-off but England will not be on his mind according to David Hands in The Times.
"That is part of Wilkinson’s problem: his standing remains so high in the game after his record-breaking international achievements that any return to action creates the assumption that his form will immediately demand recognition by his country. He has always been totally realistic about his expectations and only when he is fit and ready will he contemplate the international game.
"There has been talk of Wilkinson, who has another year remaining on his Newcastle contract, joining ambitious Racing Metro in Paris, as well as Toulon or Bayonne in southwest France. There is a connection with Toulon, where the general manager, Tom Whitford, is a family friend and Philippe Saint-Andre will bring greater sanity to recruitment when he takes over as rugby director.
"There is no doubt, of course, that he is an expensive asset at a time when every Premiership club is having to cut costs and that, through persistent injury, his value has been as a brand name rather than leading an assault on the Premiership and on Europe. But it is only a year ago that he won the last of his 70 caps for England and, at 29, is young enough to add more."
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