Wilkinson back as hair to the throne

New-look No 10 finds joy on and off the pitch and his reward should be starting role for England against Tri-Nations giants

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Jonny Wilkinson's revelations that quantum physics and Buddhist teaching have made him a happier person could not have come at a better time for England. The Premiership is full of down-on-their-luck fly-halves, which is not much use when Tests against the Tri-Nations giants are just around the corner, with World Cup ranking points at stake.

The new-model Wilkinson has long, floppy hair and a sunny disposition, and will be on show for the second time this season against Saracens today. Last Sunday it was the old familiar darting runs, smart passesand devastating boots which destroyed Northampton to the tune of 22 points, four months after Wilkinson underwent a major shoulder operation.

Elsewhere, Ryan Lamb has been dropped by Gloucester and Sale's Charlie Hodgson is out of both senior England squads after being the defensive scapegoat on the June tour of New Zealand. There is no sign yet of the injured Danny Cipriani and Shane Geraghty, while Olly Barkley began his season at inside-centre yesterday, the same position in which Riki Flutey was mostly anonymous for Wasps a week ago. Only Toby Flood of the obvious fly-half contenders has shown flashes of form, but his goal-kicking has been flawed.

There is a cushion of cartilage within the shoulder joint called the labrum, and Wilkinson's had been in a state of degeneration since the 2003 Six Nations' Championship, masked by numerous other injuries and ailments. In the summer downtime he worked on the fourth autobiographical book of his career with co-author Steve Black, who revealed the plans for Tackling Life in these pages last March.

In the book the pair espouse a philosophy of goodwill and honest endeavour influenced by science, religion and all sorts. Where did the urge to write it come from?

"I looked at what had been occupying my time the most in the last five or six years," Wilkinson told the Independent on Sunday. "People writing to me were no longer asking for help with their kicking, they were saying things like, 'My son is having problems with his temper on the field'. It's a decision to offer a few lessons I've learned from mistakes I've made. Hopefully the book can be transposed into any walk of life."

Wilkinson, 29, admits thathe founded what he calls the "stable" part of his career – up to about a year before the 2003 World Cup win – on introspection and a slavish training regime. "There were loads of messages in there for me," he said. "What's the best way to move forward, in terms of having a greater impact on the people around me, in the England squad and in the team at Newcastle? Those are the messages I'm looking deeperinto finding, because there's a way for me to make this next part of my career – at the age I am now, and my physical peak now – even better."

With his girlfriend, Shelley Jenkins, at his side, Wilkinson has his heart set on restoring a reputation with England which looked very shaky during the 2008 Six Nations. It began with an abject second half against Wales (when Wilkinson was captain after Phil Vickery went off) and lurched on through a stuttering win in Italy, an obdurate victory in France, rain-lashed ignominy in Scotland and the one-time golden boy being dropped in favour of Cipriani against Ireland.

During the latter match Wilkinson came on at centre and was on the end of a berating from the new kid on the block. "I had a bit of a word with him afterwards about that," Wilkinson said with a smile. "There are certain things you need to play at fly-half, and Danny has them. It took me a long time to learn this, but you have to have an opinion.

"As a No 10 you are there to control people. The players I've enjoyed playing with are the guys who talk to you a lot. I spent loads of time getting praised for great games when Mike Catt was around and I felt like a bit of a cheat at times, because he was doing everything.

"Outside of that, skill-wise, Danny has all the talent and then some. It's quite exciting for him to find his own way through the other stuff [the newspaper headlines]. To enjoy it, to see it for what it is, but to understand also that it's a fickle world."

Cipriani's mangled ankle is still healing, much like the mentalwounds at Newcastle after the sacking last season of coachesJohn Fletcher and Peter Walton, while Mathew Tait (to Sale) and Flood and flanker Ben Woods (to Leicester) moved on. Black lost his fitness coach job at the club last December.

Many tempting offers have come and gone and Wilkinson has stayed with his only senior club, although his newspaper paymaster, The Times, recentlyquoted an interest from the wealthy French club Toulon.

"Someone who'd seen it sent me a text message and that was the first I'd heard about it," Wilkinson said. "It is ever more pertinent for me to be flexible, because I've seen myself run into the odd dead end with regard to injury. I'm going one day at a time, and at the moment I'm very happy. But I need to keep an eye out, and there's always ambitions I want to fulfil. Thankfully I feel like I've got a lot of time to see those through."

Wilkinson is not about to refuse to slot in at centre again for England, but you sense happiness in rugby terms is really that prime ministerial No 10 on his back. "The way I'm looking at trying to move my game forward is the ability to play all round. Late or early in the game, whatever the score, wherever you find yourself on the field. That's the enjoyment for me.

"I love getting stuck into a conditional game where it isn't all about, 'We'll go from here to here', it's actually about saying, 'Right, go – go play rugby'. That's rediscovering the joy of where I began, however many years ago it was. That's the bit that gets me excited.You go out and do the best you can. What more is there?"