England face Mike Ruddock’s resurgent Wales team in Cardiff on February 5th. Newcastle Coach, Rob Andrew, who will miss the brilliant fly-half for the crucial Heineken Cup tie against the Newport Gwent Dragons next weekend, added: “He had an MRI scan last night and there is quite a lot of relief that it is not as bad as it could have been.
“It is a medial ligament problem. It is a fairly common injury in the game and most medics would say it needs a minimum of four to six weeks worth of rehabilitation and there is no surgery involved.”
Wilkinson missed the entire RBS Six Nations Championship last year because of a neck injury. He was appointed England Captain this season but withdrew from the autumn internationals with an arm injury. The Perpignan match was Wilkinson’s second start since returning from the bicep problem.