48 hours: Jonny's still out there practising

Saturday night will have provided Lions supporters with a message of hope.

No, it wasn't that great trench-warfare clash in Hamilton, although despite the defeat to the Maori there were some encouraging signs for the tourists.

Instead, it was a television profile on Jonny Wilkinson screened a couple of hours later which should have buoyed any despondent Lions fans.

Questions will remain about the brave Wilkinson's fitness, and whether his small frame will continue to hang together when he is finally unveiled by Sir Clive Woodward.

But when - in the mind's eye at this stage - you tack on his relentless dedication and supreme allround kicking to that physically powerful Lions pack, the 2005 tourists take on a new menace.

To say that Wilkinson is keen about his rugby is like suggesting Lance Armstrong has spent a bit of time on a pushbike.

The England and Lions No 10 is obsessive in his pursuit of perfection, operating out of a warm family cocoon. His father Phil, a former financial adviser, now looks after his affairs. Jonny's slightly older brother "Sparks" is his right-hand man.

Jonny Wilkinson is unassuming yet all-consuming. This TV piece clearly showed the extraordinary dedication that Wilkinson has put into his career.

While punters downed pints at his Newcastle club, Jonny was under the floodlights taking goalkicks from the sort of acute angles that almost turn the target into a single post.

While he is polite, likeable and respectful, Wilkinson's "mission statement" includes no-shows for commercial events if he feels yet more practice is needed in any playing department.

He gets grumpy if there is the slightest flaw in his game and when you are that obsessed with perfection, flaws are presumably an everyday part of life.

This profile was interspersed with comments - mainly from former England captain Will Carling - that Jonny could ease up a bit now and then.

This, some believe, might even raise his game, although it is highly doubtful if Jonny would see it this way or take such a ridiculous risk.

Wilkinson clearly understands his own mind and knows great danger lurks in leisure activities. A movie now and then could quickly turn into 25 movies a week. An ice cream today could turn into bucketloads of the stuff tomorrow. Leisure activities are a serious threat to MORE GOALKICKING PRACTICE.

At one point, a guitar appeared and it seemed that Jonny might be embarking on some extra curricular activity. Wilkinson has dabbled with the guitar, but you sensed he feared it could lead him on a path of rugby destruction.

Carling suggested Jonny might enjoy doing some more normal things, like chasing girls. This is the Will Carling who found infamy during the mid-1990s when, while still married, he was linked with the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Of course, if Jonny had ever set his sights on a princess, he would have practised on a few dozen duchesses first and be married into the royal family by now.

There was actually one moment of absolute madness, when he and Sparks bought a table-tennis table. Just crazy. This also raised the spectre of Jonny Wilkinson one day playing ping pong for England.

Wilkinson even has a wake-up routine on match day. Wake up and feel sick with worry. Snooze. Wake up and feel slightly less sick with worry. Snooze. Wake up a third time and feel okay.

It takes an incredibly tough mind to go through this. Watching a telly programme on a man this dedicated, that is. I'd wilted under the pressure before the credits rolled.

It meant I could rest, but was also less assured - about the All Blacks' chances. The Metronome Gnome's goalkicking alone could be a serious factor in the three-test series, and he is not averse to taking the odd drop-kick attempt either. Pressure, pressure, pressure, on himself, his team-mates, and the opposition.

You can rest assured that out there somewhere, at this very moment, Jonny Wilkinson is practising, practising, practising or thinking, thinking, thinking in readiness for the epic battles ahead.