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Wilkinson happy to risk England place for Toulon

Playing for Toulon has become the firm priority for Jonny Wilkinson, even if it throws his England aspirations into doubt © Getty Images

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Jonny Wilkinson has admitted he was not worried about putting his England chances in doubt by signing a new contract with Toulon.

Following this year's Rugby World Cup, talk is afoot for all English players based outside the domestic game to be excluded from future international selection. But playing in France has been a revitalising experience for Wilkinson, enabling him to get back to what he considers his best, and consequently despite such discussions the 32-year-old was still more than happy to pen a contract that will keep him playing Top 14 football until 2013.

After kicking 22 points in Toulon's impressive 32-16 Heineken Cup victory over Munster on Sunday that guaranteed the side's progression to the quarter-finals, Wilkinson is convinced his current situation, rather than a return to the Premiership, is the right one for bringing out the best in him.

"Toulon has become a new life for me," Wilkinson told the Daily Telegraph. "I've had to go out and prove myself from scratch and that's been fantastic. You're not just playing for a team, you're playing for a region, a way of life. You've got to buy into that. You can't just flick a switch and trot out on Saturday. It's all or nothing. You might have thought that would be the way at every club, but it's not. This is me now.

"Of course I'll always give what I can to the England cause. But my place there needs to be merited. And for that to be the case then I have to be doing what I'm doing here, because it makes me the person and the player I am. If England fits, it will be."

Wilkinson has not had showdown talks about his international future with England head coach Martin Johnson, but has kept in regular contact. The fly-half will meet up with the rest of the squad on Sunday for a five-day training camp ahead of the Six Nations, where his position within the team is far from assured.

Having lost his starting place to Leicester's Toby Flood prior to the autumn series, which he missed through injury, the 2003 World Cup hero believes he can still be a valued member of the squad without wearing the No. 10.

"There have been no lengthy talks [with Johnson], more of a day-to-day thing, really," said Wilkinson. "I was never into this thing about people supposedly keeping the England shirt warm when I was injured. Whoever is playing is playing because they've earned the right to. My ethos has always been to give a team-mate the greatest opportunity to do well.

"Of course, it is a constant battle with your own competitive feelings, because you want to be out there in control and making a difference. But it's about the team succeeding. If you are not doing your best for someone else, then you are doing the opposite and hurting the team."

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