UFO Info Week-End

Damaged ligaments in the same knee in First Test and after 16 months out he hopes to be

Damaged ligaments in the same knee in First Test, and after 16 months out he hopes to be back in the next fortnight.Jonny Wilkinson (Fly-half, Newcastle and England)Where do you start? Wilkinson’s worst lay-off was a spell of one match in 38 weeks following the 2003 World Cup, with injuries in neck and shoulder. It may not have been a million-pound kick this time, but Harlequins’ fly-half Adrian Jarvis felt the same pain as Jeremy Staunton 18 months before him, unable to earn victory over Sale in the last minute. Has suffered a catalogue of injuries since.Phil Vickery (Prop, Wasps and England)Mighty tighthead laid low since January this year after a third back operation. Moved in the summer from Gloucester, who wanted to change his wage structure, to Wasps, for whom he makes his debut against London Irish today.Hugh Godwin. Broke ankle with 2005 Lions, came back in October last year, had the plate removed during summer, playing first game this season today.Richard Hill (Flanker, Saracens and England)Endured six months’ rehab after a reconstruction of left knee in October 2004 to make the 2005 Lions tour. After nine months out, Dallaglio returned in March 2002 to rediscover form gradually and play every minute of England’s 2003 World Cup campaign.

“I never want to get dropped,” he says, adding: “I will be starting today. I’m the only fit centre we’ve got.”Comeback Men: Four who have faced the long road to recoveryLawrence Dallaglio (Back row, Wasps and England)Lions 2001 tour was a mistake; he carried a wounded knee which soon gave way and needed reconstruction. You want players who, if they’re not picked, their heads aren’t going to drop.”Players like Tom Shanklin, in other words. The Blues, having beaten Wasps first time out, fancy a tilt at the trophy.

“We got rid of a lot of the dead wood in the summer,” says Shanklin. “People who turned up to training and didn’t really care if we won or lost have been replaced with people who are keen or youngsters coming up from the academy. That kept me busy so I didn’t have time to sit around and think, ‘What if?’ “Shanklin the Cardiff Blue is no shrinking violet. His game is noted for its aggression, for his full-on running and simple distribution. But he says a six-month season would make more sense, albeit that “nothing will happen until a lot of players break down”. Surely Wales have been there, suffered from that, in their wretched defence of the Six Nations’ Championship title last season, ruined by injuries.With a much improved pre-season behind him it is a fresher, more hopeful Shanklin who is looking forward today to a first rematch with Saracens since he left, in the Anglo-Welsh Cup at Watford.

“Mark Bennett, the Wales fitness coach, has been like a personal trainer. And the Blues and Wales train where you can do rehab work.”Asked what he would do if not playing rugby, he makes it plain he will cross that Severn Bridge when it comes to it “I did some part-time work for Brains’ brewery,” he says. “I would like to say it was as a taster, but it was more on the marketing side. Yet there are scores of PRA members who have no top-up insurance.Phil Newton, of football’s sports rehabilitation centre at Lilleshall, bemoaned in these pages last week that no rugby players had used his centre’s services – possibly on the basis of cost But Shanklin says he has had good treatment. If they are internationals there is a staged enhancement, dependent on age: £112,000 at age 29 or above, £187,000 at 26 to 29, £250,000 up to 25.Richard Harry, chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Players’ Association, says: “We have worked hard to provide a base level of cover, but I urge everyone to add to it.