Wilkinson should make Six Nations

Jonny Wilkinson is expected to be fit for the start of England’s Six Nations Championship despite having his comeback from injury curtailed.

The Newcastle and England fly-half was taken to hospital for X-rays after aggravating a shoulder injury less than an hour into the Falcons’ 23-19 Zurich Premiership win over Northampton at Kingston Park.

It was his first game since helping England to World Cup glory five weeks ago and it was feared that another lay-off could make him doubtful for the Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on February 15.

But he was cleared of serious injury, much to the relief of England coach Clive Woodward, who had his Christmas skiing holiday in Switzerland disrupted earlier in the day to learn of the unfortunate injury to Bath centre Mike Tindall.

Tindall ruptured all three of the lateral ligaments in his right ankle in his side’s win over Saracens on Saturday and he will undergo an operation this week before embarking on a 12-week rehabilitation programme which will force him to miss the entire Six Nations.

“It is a great shame for Mike,” said Bath coach John Connolly. “The X-ray showed that there was no fracture but ligament damage is often worse than a break.”

The loss of Tindall was a bad enough blow but Wilkinson looked set to join him on the sidelines when he was helped off early in the second half at Kingston Park after falling in a heap while attempting a tackle.

Newcastle director of rugby Rob Andrew said: “He led with his head which twisted to one side. It has affected the area he had the fracture in but the X-ray has shown it has not caused any further damage.

“There is soft-tissue damage from a very heavy tackle. It’s a bit early to say at this stage how long he will be out. We just need to let it settle for a couple of days before we know the extent of the injury.

“I don’t expect him to miss the Six Nations. He may well not play next week but we are talking a few weeks probably rather than anything serious.

“He is pretty fed up, as you would expect from anyone who has missed the last five weeks since the World Cup. He has been desperate to play.”

Wilkinson had kicked his side into a 9-6 interval lead but Newcastle’s hopes of avoiding a hat-trick of home defeats appeared to disappear with their points-scoring phenomenon. However, replacement Dave Walder proved to be the perfect foil as the Falcons turned a 13-9 deficit into a 23-13 lead.

Walder converted Michael Stephenson’s controversial 65th-minute try – Saints winger Bruce Reihana insisted he grounded the ball first – and then intercepted Nick Beal’s pass to race 80 minutes for the match-winning score.

“It was either a try for them or a try for us and it paid off for me,” said Walder. “Jonny going down was very unfortunate but the long delay gave me the chance to get my head right on the sideline.

“I had a big point to prove coming off the back of last week when my kicks let the team down. I wanted a chance to prove that I am not a bad player. It is never nice to lose your place, even if it is to Jonny, so I had a big point to prove when I came on.”

Meanwhile, two more of England’s World Cup heroes, Matt Dawson and Ben Cohen, are close to making their returns.

Scrum-half Dawson (calf) is still at least a week away from recovery but winger Cohen (groin) is hoping to play for Northampton against London Irish next weekend.

No fewer than 14 of England’s World Cup squad missed the weekend’s Premiership programme because of injury.