Wilkinson fit and raring to go, says coach Johnson

England manager Martin Johnson said that Jonny Wilkinson was fully fit and raring to go after including the injury-ravaged flyhalf in his elite training squad despite his not playing for 10 months.

Johnson had said the 32-man squad, announced last week, would be based on form but made no apologies for including the 2003 World Cup winner.

"He is a world class player," Johnson told a news conference at Twickenham.

"He was here for a fitness assessment last week and he's in good nick. He's training fully and is raring to go."

Wilkinson, 30, last played in September and missed the rest of the season with a dislocated kneecap and subsequent complications. He has now moved to French club Toulon, who also carried out their own rigorous fitness tests.

"There are no assurances but nobody works harder than him on rehab and conditioning," Johnson said. "Now he just needs to get out on the field and play."

Danny Cipriani, the man who once seemed destined to take over Wilkinson's mantle, has had to settle for a place in the 32-man second-string Saxons squad but Johnson said his "demotion" was purely down to form and nothing to do with any perceived attitude problem.

"We picked him in the autumn, based on the previous year with England. Did he struggle, did the team struggle? Yes," Johnson said.

"But he's a talented player and is now battling to get back into the squad."

Cipriani recently had a plate removed from his ankle following the horrific injury he sustained in May 2008 and has much ground to make up having been overhauled even in the Saxons by Stephen Myler.

Wilkinson and British and Irish Lions centre Riki Flutey were the only two France-based players to make the squads as James Haskell, Tom Palmer, Tom May, Steve Thompson and last season's regular flyhalf Andy Goode all missed out.