Wilkinson ruled out of England tour to New Zealand

ENGLAND OUTHALF Jonny Wilkinson has been ruled out of the forthcoming tour to New Zealand because of injury.

The Rugby Football Union last night confirmed the 28-year-old will undergo shoulder surgery when the current season ends.

It means the Newcastle Falcons player will miss the June 14th clash in Auckland and the following week's fixture in Christchurch.

Wilkinson (28) missed his club's seventh consecutive Premiership defeat away to Sale Sharks on Sunday because of concussion and lost his England starting place to Danny Cipriani in the final Six Nations match against Ireland last month.

However, it is a shoulder problem that means he will not play a part in the tour to New Zealand, which will be under the guidance of RFU elite rugby director Rob Andrew, with newly-appointed team manager Martin Johnson staying in England with his pregnant wife Kay.

Andrew said: "Of course we would have liked him to tour and we intend to take our strongest available squad. But player welfare is important and in this case it is the right call for Jonny not to go to New Zealand.

"We decided with Newcastle Falcons and Jonny that it was in his best interests to have this operation at the end of the season."

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times