New model Wilko can’t wait

Given the relationship between Sir Clive Woodward and Jonny Wilkinson, the suspicion is that the world's most celebrated No 10 would have travelled to New Zealand come hell or high water.

How could the Lions take on the All Blacks without the player whose drop goal won the World Cup for England and a knighthood for the coach?

Easily, according to Sir Clive, who maintains that had Wilkinson not performed to the highest standards for Newcastle a couple of weeks ago he would have been playing with a shadow England squad in Canada rather than competing in the war of the worlds.

The reappearance on the international scene of Wilkinson after 18 months may seem a touch unfair on the other five-eighths, Stephen Jones, Ronan O'Gara and Charlie Hodgson, but nobody is complaining. The Lions would not have looked right without him.

Woodward affirmed: "Jonny's not been singled out for special treatment. He's fully fit and he's in on merit." Wilkinson is arguably the most single-minded player in the game, and his individual exploits have made him the nearest thing to a David Beckham rugby has ever seen. Yet Wilkinson is a squaddie through and through. Faced with injuries, operations and setbacks since the World Cup, most players would have called it a day. It is a minor miracle he is on Woodward's roster.

Wilkinson said: "I'm very proud and honoured to be part of such a fantastic team. I have been out of international rugby for so long I haven't been able to perform on the field. I hate not having earned the respect of the players around me."

Coming from anybody else it would not have meant as much.

Wilkinson has made millions, but it could have been a lot more; he won't endorse fast foods and fizzy drinks. Is this goody two-boots for real? Afraid so.

"To be honest I've no idea what my best is. I'm struggling for something and I don't know what it is. I suspect my best is very different from my best of a year and a half ago."

What will be unveiled in Cardiff tomorrow is Wilkinson Mark II. Every kick, every pass, and particularly every tackle will be scrutinised as never before. The fear is that he will go down and won't get back up. Of course Woodward has taken a gamble, but he was left with no choice. Wilkinson has been working his socks off, improving his footwork, picking up ideas from league and changing the famous posture for his goal-kicking.

On form the Lions test halfbacks should be the Wales pair, Stephen Jones and Dwayne Peel. But if Wilkinson passes his road test, the Lions will move up a gear.

"I quite like the situation I've been put in," he said. "I'd rather be fighting for something than presuming it and I'd rather be backed into a corner than be allowed to rest on my laurels."

Wilkinson may be the most apologetic gate-crasher to the party, but once in he takes comfort from an environment that he enjoyed with the Lions in Australia in 2001. "This is like the start of a new season, and not just for me.

"Everyone will be playing together for the first time and we all have a chance to pitch in. It will be interesting to see how I react to the pressure. In rugby, as in life, nothing's for free and I haven't earned a great deal."

- INDEPENDENT