Jonny Wilkinson, England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup hero, has revealed the secrets behind his latest comeback from injury. Four months ago, Wilkinson, one of the most frustratingly injury-prone players in the world of sport today, underwent major surgery on his shoulder.

At the time, sports pundits expressed their concerns that the player would never regain the form that proved so devastating in Australia five years ago. However, Wilkinson, complete with a new, flowing hairstyle, was in terrific form last weekend against Northampton.

In his new autobiography, written whilst recovering from his shoulder operation, the player has revealed the secrets behind his successful comeback from injury. In the fascinating book, Wilkinson speaks of a terrible and persistent “fear of failure” that afflicted him even after his star performance in the World Cup final.

Indeed, rather than bringing happiness and pride, the player’s success at this tournament merely resulted in a feeling of lost control. The unlucky run of injuries that followed over the coming years, combined with an inability to adapt to new-found fame, added to Wilkinson’s misery.

During his enforced spells away from the rugby pitch, the player began to indulge his interest in spirituality. The famous Schrodinger’s Cat scientific thought experiment fascinated Wilkinson and made him realise that he had been living a life over which he had little control. The results of this experiment hit him “like a steam train” and forced him to reconsider his thoughts regarding “mind and reality”.

Furthermore, influences from Buddhism and Quantum Physics allowed the player to reassess his feelings towards failure. Wilkinson explains that the “Middle Way is about seeing everything as interconnected – success and failure, victory and defeat”. He continues to question whether his success in the 2003 World Cup was a natural product of previous failures.

Wilkinson’s new attitude to life and his profession has also influenced the way in which he practises. Until this year, the player would spend hours on the rugby pitch, obsessively practising his kicks over and over again. Many fellow professionals and media pundits expressed their concerns that such an attitude may be contributing towards the numerous injuries affecting Wilkinson.

However, the player is now able to take a “step back after a practice session”. Furthermore, despite still admitting to being a perfectionist at heart, he has “the ability to flick the switch and go home” if things are not going entirely his way.

Wilkinson’s new, positive attitude towards the game, combined with the fine form displayed last weekend, should make those who continue to doubt him reconsider their opinions. Many sports pundits believe that the England team no longer has a place for the 29-year old. With the young Toby Flood positively flourishing in a Leicester shirt, critics have argued that there is no longer any room for such an injury-prone, ageing fly-half.

However, perhaps these writers should go and talk to the Northampton defence, who were positively terrorised by a rejuvenated Wilkinson, and today’s tough fixture against Saracens will provide the player with another chance to prove his doubters wrong.

Written by Charlotte Cook