Wonder of Wilko

Wilkinson's expert kicking is a huge asset for an inexperienced England side

If Jonny Wilkinson hadn't kicked England to World Cup glory we might never have heard of Courtney Lawes. The Northampton lock only took up the game after watching the fly-half's heroics in Sydney.

Gail Davis
Quotes of the week

LIVE ON SKY SPORTS
England v Australia
2pm, Sat, Sky Sports 2 & HD2

It took three questions and only two-and-a-half minutes for the subject of a certain Jonny Wilkinson to be raised and the subject dominated the rest of the press conference. And that was the Australian press conference.

England's most-loved number 10 is back and the expectation on those battle-hardened shoulders is enormous, even without the extra weight that Australian Coach Robbie Deans has been adding this week. Deans says England are an entirely different prospect with Wilkinson, and whilst the Australian players don't know too much about some of England's starters on Saturday they know only too well what Mr Wilkinson is capable of.

For years Quade Cooper - Australia's surprise inclusion in the centre - spent years admiring Wilkinson and can't quite believe he'll face him at Twickenham on Saturday.

Idol

In fact if Jonny hadn't kicked England to World Cup glory we might never have heard of Courtney Lawes. The Northampton lock only took up the game after watching the fly-half's heroics in Sydney. Six years on he'll line up on the bench alongside him and play for Martin Johnson, the man who lifted the World Cup.

Fingers crossed that the game and Wilkinson live up to the hype. Rugby fans have felt a bit flat following recent Premiership weekends; there was very little by way of tries for Delon Armitage to discuss in the Sky Sports News studio last Sunday. But it gave him a bit more time to have a dig at brother Steffon, who gave away the penalty that allowed Rory Clegg to kick a late equaliser for Harlequins. Poor old Steffon probably didn't need any extra grief - for the second week in a row he found himself surplus to Martin Johnson's requirements.

Stung

Not quite as much grief I imagine as the coaching team have been dishing out at Wasps this week after their defeat to Leeds. Wasps can't say they weren't warned - Leeds pushed the league leaders Saracens close the week previous, and but for a refereeing decision or two they might already have two premiership wins and there might have been a different name at the bottom of the table.

Bath are certainly thankful for that after what has been a dire start to the season. The club are hoping the arrival of Luke Watson might provide a timely boost. The South African, who was voted the Currie Cup's player of the year, joins a team two points off the bottom but believes it won't be long before the club are climbing the table.

After the high profile departures of Michal Lipman, Alex Crockett, Andrew Higgings and Justin Harrison over the summer and the injury to Butch James, the team is desperate for some strong leadership and the fans need a new hero. Following Steve Meehan's decision to give some of his first-team players a breather this weekend in the LV cup against Saracens, Watson is unlikely to feature but should be raring to go the following week against the Ospreys.

Family affair

Elsewhere in the cup this weekend England's defence coach could be in for an interesting afternoon on Sunday. If he survives the stress of Saturday afternoon against the Australians Mike Ford will head to Headingly as the most impartial of impartial fans because for the second time in as many months - and for the first time at this level - Mike is going to watch his youngest son George take on brother Joe as Leicester travel to Leeds in the LV cup. Both play at fly-half and when the two met in the 'A' league it was George, who is only 16 and too young to play in the Premiership, who came out on top. Keep an eye out for which brother has the bragging rights after Sunday's game on Sky Sports News and see how Mike handles dividing his loyalty - "I'll just cheer for the one with the ball."

Talking of fatherly commitment, Australian Ryan Cross' father Paul is a few hundred pounds worse off thanks to his dedication to his son. Paul took a cab from London to Gloucester to make sure he didn't miss his son play for Australia at Kingsholm - thankfully Ryan rewarded him with a try but his Dad didn't say whether or not it was worth the money.

Fan-tache-tic

Finally with "Movember" now nearly a week old there have been some very strange looking attempts at moustaches from the rugby community - even Australia are entering into the spirit during their tour - but one player stands out amongst the rest.

When Wasps player Tom Rees went in for his latest shoulder operation he decided he wouldn't shave until his sling came off. When it did earlier this week, Rees had a good few weeks of growth but he made sure to leave his upper lip, so he's already a few weeks ahead of the rest and sporting a ginger tash. Rees also decided he wasn't going to cut his hair until he started playing again. All I can say is I hope the look doesn't take off!