Captaincy holds no fears for Wilkinson

They used to call him the Boy Wonder; now, he sounds like a cross between Churchill and Socrates. Jonny Wilkinson, England's 23-year-old captain for the day against Italy at the weekend, may or may not lead his country again this year, but this much is as certain as certain can be: soon, possibly before the start of the 2004 Six Nations, this remarkable model of sporting maturity will be appointed commander-in-chief of the red rose army.

Wilkinson is in one-off territory at the moment, for Martin Johnson has already been pencilled in as captain for the Calcutta Cup match with Scotland in a little over a fortnight's time. But it is a one-off he has dreamed of since leading Farnham under-nines in the South of England Little Squirts' Championship back in the late 1980s, just as the Will Carling era was hitting its stride. If this ultimate job fazes him at all, he showed no sign of it yesterday.

"I am proud, of course, but I'm also keen to make this a business as usual situation," he said at the half-way point in a marathon kicking session at the England camp in Surrey. "There have been times this week when I've stepped back and looked at things in a different perspective, but captaincy holds no fears for me. I've led teams at mini level, in schools rugby and in county and divisional rugby. I captained the England under-18s and I'm doing the job at Newcastle, where we're under a fair bit of pressure at the undesirable end of the Premiership. What I have now is a new challenge, and I enjoy challenges."

While he identified Johnson as his ideal captain – "authoritative, no-nonsense, straight-talking, the get-in-and-get-the-job-done type most players appreciate" – Wilkinson was also keen to emphasise that he will bring something of his own to the task of subduing Alessandro Troncon's spirited Italian side. "We're all different," he said, "and there is no point me trying to be someone else, because it wouldn't be convincing. I'll take what I need from the senior people around me, the Dallaglios and Dawsons and Greenwoods, but I've learned a great deal from my experience at Newcastle and I'll bring that with me, too.

"No, I won't be writing a speech for delivery in the dressing room before kick-off. I generally put a few notes down on paper at the start of international week, just to focus my mind on specific areas I need to address, but as far as the captaincy is concerned, it's an instinctive thing. I'll get an idea of the mood in the hotel, or on the bus, or once we arrive at the stadium, and anything that needs saying will be said, I'm sure."

Like all good captains, Wilkinson praised the impending opposition to high heaven. "They're physical and direct, and they score tries against us," he pointed out. But as England's paragon of perfectionism, the player who has made an all-encompassing virtue of his obsession with personal preparation, he promised to concentrate on his own game. "I hate leaving a rugby field thinking there might have been something more I could have given," he said. "On Sunday, I will be England's outside-half. First and foremost, I have to get that bit right."

James Simpson-Daniel, the Gloucester wing recalled to the starting line-up after Ben Cohen's withdrawal through injury, suffered a minor ankle problem before training yesterday and took no part in the team run. He is expected to recover in good time for kick-off.

Olly Barkley, the Bath outside-half, has pulled out of tonight's A International with the Italians at Northampton. Martyn Wood of Wasps replaces him on the bench.

Leicester have decided not to appeal against their defeat by Gloucester in last weekend's Powergen Cup semi-final, a match that ended in a fog of confusion over the labyrinthine rules governing uncontested scrums. But the Midlanders are not happy with the Rugby Football Union's handling of the affair. Peter Tom, their chairman, said there had been no clarification of "ambiguous" rules and called for standardisation without further delay.