Rugby Union: Forwards Ordered to Protect Wilkinson

Growing concern about Jonny Wilkinson's wellbeing has prompted the England management to take urgent steps to save their battered fly-half from further punishment if he recovers sufficiently to face South Africa in this weekend's second and last Test at Loftus Versfeld.

Wilkinson was the team's top tackler in the bruising 58-10 first-Test defeat to South Africa in Bloemfontein and showed rare courage in halting the Springbok No8 Danie Rossouw on several occasions. Ultimately he was forced off with a back problem and facial cuts and his coaches have now acknowledged that he needs special protection in order to prolong his Test career.

Under a new policy which will raise eyebrows among opposing forwards, Wilkinson's team-mates have literally been ordered to shove their illustrious No10 out of harm's way whenever possible, theoretically giving him more time to concentrate on shaping other aspects of the game more effectively.

Similar attempts to shield him have been made in the past to little effect. England have relied on his remarkable defensive work - few fly-halves in the sport's history have shown a greater appetite for big hits - but the 28-year-old's injury record over the past three years cannot be ignored. "We want players to push him out of the way," said England's defense coach, Mike Ford, confirming that Wilkinson had topped his defensive chart last Saturday with 14 tackles. In second place was the Harlequins No8 Nick Easter with 13 tackles and 18 carries. "The guys have got to protect the half-backs better," said Ford.

The bad news for England, facing a Springbok side keen to inflict even more pain in the second Test, is that the sickness problems that bedevilled their preparations last week may be resurfacing. Two more unnamed players reported feeling ill yesterday and Dave Strettle, Andy Farrell and Peter Richards are struggling to shake off the effects of the stomach virus that ruled them out of the first Test.

The latest prognosis on Wilkinson's sore back is encouraging but the head coach, Brian Ashton, has postponed his team announcement from today to give himself more time to assess his options. England's forwards coach, John Wells, said: "There are a lot of bashed-up bodies and we're trying to give them as much time to recover as possible."

It seems that the Bath prop Matt Stevens, summoned from his holiday in Cape Town to join the squad, will be asked to bolster the front row and at least five other starting-XV alterations are likely.

South Africa, in contrast, plan to send out a similar team with the aim of tightening up their set-piece work. "I'd expect them to be more organized and to ask more questions from first phase," predicted Wells.