The British press were quick to heap praise on a rejuventated England following their opening RBS Six Nations victory over Scotland but it was one man's dream return that stole the headlines.

Here we offer some soundbites from the widespread praise spalshed all over the Sunday newspapers.

"The King is back...Rugby is seen as the ultimate team game, and yet at Twickenham yesterday we saw a brilliant demonstration of the ability of an individual to galvanise a team, and even a sporting nation. Jonny Wilkinson, on the back of only 40 minutes of true action after recovering from the latest in a series of devastating injuries, and playing his first game for England since his extra-time drop goal won the World Cup final in November 2003, supervised an English revival which gave a team on the verge of complete disintegration last autumn soaring hope for the rest of the 2007 RBS Six Nations." - Sunday Times

"After a week when all the talk has been about the perils of gambling, the decision of new head coach Brian Ashton to pick a man with only 43 minutes of rugby under his belt this season and a player who was meant to have retired from the international game two years ago showed that sometimes you just have to follow your hunches." - Sunday Telegraph

"Bloody marvel Wilkinson is England's hero again...Last November, Twickenham man saw a defeated England off the pitch with a cacophony of boos. Last night, when Wilkinson finally left the fray after 73 minutes, 82,000 awarded him a standing ovation. It is a story so far-fetched that a Hollywood producer would rip up the script in disgust. You really had to be at HQ as the crowd sang 'Sweet Chariot' to believe what was unfolding." - Mail on Sunday

"The nightmare is over. The dreaming can resume. Brian Ashton, who will be prematurely - although understandably - painted as a rugby genius, sat impassively in a sea of patriotic fervour as he watched Jonny Wilkinson repay his faith in him with the most emphatic, heart-warming of comebacks. The fly-half had Twickenham swinging low again, back after three years and innumerable injury setbacks, to inspire only England's second win in 10 matches and restore a little of the lustre that had been rubbed away since their World Cup triumph in 2003. He racked up a Calcutta Cup record 27 points, among them five for a wonder try that owed as much to the generosity of the video judge as to his own genius, and he looked every inch the hero of old." - Observer

"But even the golden boy's return to form was almost overshadowed by his half-back partner Harry Ellis who was awarded the freedom of Twickenham. On any other day the scrum-half would have stolen the headlines since he stole a yard on the Scots defence on countless occasions. His snipping runs were what galvanised the English, they made precious yards for the home team and they led directly to Wilkinson's score. Poor Chris Cusiter picked a bad moment to make his own comeback." - The Scotsman

"The seminal moment occurred just short of the hour mark. England's Jason Robinson had scored his second try and when the returning Jonny Wilkinson slotted a difficult conversion, a thousand camera flashlights lit up Twickenham. It seemed symbolic somehow: light at the end of the tunnel, or perhaps a new dawn? Moments later, Wilkinson scored a try in which every bit of his body apart from the hand holding the ball was out of play. TV replays revealed that there was considerable doubt over the score but, given the way Wilkinson had played, the television match official wasn't in the mood to be a party pooper. Needless to say, Wilkinson banged over the conversion from the most outrageous angle." - Sunday Telegraph

"Jonny Wilkinson banished 1,169 days of physical and mental torture from his mind to produce a brilliant and heroic performance in this hammering of the Scots. Twickenham's favourite son returned to his sporting home to shine like a diamond in white on what so many hope will be both a second coming and second half of his badly-disrupted career." - Sunday People