New injury blow sets Wilkinson back again

Jonny Wilkinson

Jonny Wilkinson got as far as the replacements' bench for Newcastle's game at London Irish last weekend, which was something of a triumph for a man whose career has been stripped bare by an entire medical directory's worth of orthopaedic ailments since he dropped the goal that won the World Cup for England in the autumn of 2003.

Sadly, he will go no further for the time being.

Wilkinson suffered an acute injury to his right adductor muscle during a training session on Tuesday and will miss the Premiership match with Gloucester on Sunday.

Although this latest problem has occurred worryingly close to Wilkinson's groin, the subject of surgery last November, it is not, according to the Newcastle staff, linked in any way.

"The surgery was a complete success," said a club spokesman yesterday.

"The groin disruption repair has not been compromised at any stage." This particular adductor has plagued Wilkinson before, like most of the muscles in the poor chap's body.

As recently as last month he suffered a similar setback, and spent a few more miserable weeks hauling himself towards fitness.

There is no suggestion that this outbreak of trauma is any more serious, but he must be climbing the walls.

Wilkinson was never in contention for a run in the current Six Nations Championship - Andy Robinson, the England coach, is adamant that the finest goal-kicker ever to don the white shirt needs a decent run of games at Premiership level before coming under consideration - but the summer tour of Australia throws up faint possibilities of a return to international activity.

It is therefore a matter of some urgency that he recovers from this setback with all haste.

If he is still injured this time next month, the chances of a return to the scene of his career-defining moment will fade from view.

Gavin Henson, a goal-kicking specialist with rather different issues, is back in the mix, however.

The celebrity centre will be a celebrity full-back for Ospreys in their Celtic League game against Borders today, having completed a suspension imposed for his assault on the Leicester prop Alex Moreno during a Heineken Cup match in December - an elbow-driven incident that left Moreno with a busted nose.

Theoretically, a strong performance should put him in line for a summons to arms when Wales take on Ireland in next weekend's Six Nations fixture, but the lingering bad feeling over his ghosted diary of last season, in which he dished the dirt on friend and foe alike, closely allied to the controversy over Mike Ruddock's abrupt departure as coach on Tuesday night, means an immediate return might be seen as insensitive in the extreme.

- INDEPENDENT