JONNY Wilkinson has promised to play with a smile on his face this season after admitting that his rugby union career almost came to an end in March.

The Newcastle Falcons fly half damaged a nerve between his spine and shoulder as he steered England to a last-gasp World Cup final win over Australia last November.

The injury was aggravated as he made a brief comeback for the Falcons in December and, three months later, the 25-year-old was forced to go under the surgeon's knife in an attempt to salvage his career.

The operation has proved a success although, during a long and tortuous road to recovery, Wilkinson admits that there were times when he questioned whether he would ever be able to play again.

He has received many accolades since his dramatic extra-time drop goal won the World Cup, including being voted World Player of the Year for 2003.

But, as he prepares to make his first appearance for eight months in next week's pre-season friendly with Irish side Connacht, Wilkinson is not focusing his attention on more plaudits. In an age of professionalism and pressure, he simply wants to rediscover his love of the game.

"I've had some great experiences and been involved in some great things," said Wilkinson, who has been named as the Falcons' new joint captain alongside Ian Peel. "But maybe I can't say that I've smiled my way through it.

"I want to do a bit more of that and, hopefully, if you enjoy something you're doing you tend to do it better.

"I really want to concentrate on going out there and making the most of the time I've got, because this year has taught me that you never quite know where the finish line is for you. For me, it could have been March this year, so it's nice to be back.

"There was a small period before the operation, and immediately afterwards, where I was hoping for an immediate reaction and instant feeling back in my arm.

"When that didn't happen there was always a question that, if the nerve was too damaged and didn't want to come back, then it wouldn't.

"That was always a threat and it was something that was slightly scary at the time. That period when nothing was happening was quite frightening.

"But then three weeks later I got a really sharp improvement and, from then on, I haven't really looked back."

Wilkinson has spent the best part of a year on the sidelines and, during that time, England have lost their Six Nations crown and been thumped in the Southern Hemisphere, while Newcastle have lifted the Powergen Cup.

Rugby union has moved on since that memorable night in Sydney, but Wilkinson has not been allowed to move on with it.

"The hardest part was not realising it was going to be such a long haul," he admitted. "There was the frustration of not being allowed to leave the World Cup behind because I wasn't able to get out onto the field and move on.

"The period when I was getting no reaction back from my shoulder was hard. That period tied in with being away from the Six Nations and being away from the England set-up.

"I hadn't quite accepted that I had to distance myself from what was going on to get some decent perspective on the game and the direction my career was going in."

Wilkinson has spent the last fortnight in pre-season training with the Falcons and, thus far, his shoulder has stood up to everything that has been asked of it.

It will get its stiffest test on Tuesday when the fly half is expected to line up against Connacht, before the Falcons play the second game of their Irish tour against Munster six days later.

The start of the Zurich Premiership season is less than four weeks away, and Wilkinson is confident he will be at full tilt by the time his side open their campaign at newly-promoted Worcester on September 5.

"The whole aim of my training has been to come back stronger and fitter so that I can try to improve as a player," he said. "I want to get more strength back in that shoulder than when I left off so I can go out there and play the way I do.

"I want to enjoy playing, and there's no way I could enjoy the game if I wasn't playing at 100 per cent. I need to be able to react instinctively to what's happening in front of me on the field. That's the way I play the game.

"I try to get better every time I play so, ideally, I want to come back and be a better player than when I last played."

This will be Wilkinson's eighth season as a Falcons player but, while he forced his way into the first team during 1998's championship winning campaign, he has been unable to guide Newcastle back to the pinnacle of the English game since.

Last season saw the Falcons finish a lowly ninth in the Premiership table but, with the likes of Matt Burke, Colin Charvis and Semo Sititi having joined this summer, the joint skipper is confident of enjoying more success in the not too distant future.

"Winning the league is everything to me," said Wilkinson. "The World Cup was fantastic, but that's gone now. Winning the World Cup was a tick in the box of an ambition, but there'll be another World Cup soon and another Premiership to be won.

"I saw what it was like to win the league and, undoubtedly, there's nothing else that you want to do.

"Everyone knows what you play for. You play to win every game and, in doing so, you want to find your way to the top of the league by the end of the season.

"You want the adulation and excitement that comes from being crowned the best team in England. That's what rugby's all about and we're building towards that all the time.