Wilko out of season opener

Jonny Wilkinson will miss out on Newcastle's Premiership opener this weekend as he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

The record-breaking England fly-half underwent shoulder surgery in the summer to put right yet another injury after the catalogue of problems that kept the 2003 World Cup winner out of international action for almost three years.

The 29-year-old is back in training but has played no part in any pre-season games for the north east outfit.

England Under-18 fly-half Rory Clegg is being handed a Premiership debut and director of rugby Steve Bates feels it is right to blood the youngster and give Wilkinson more time to regain full fitness.

"Jonny took a very active part in training this week and was close to making the game, but having spoken to the medical team we just felt this weekend was a little too soon," he said.

"Rory is an extremely talented player with a fantastic temperament, he has dealt very well with playing two full games for the first team in pre-season and we look forward to seeing him transfer that on to the Guinness Premiership stage on Sunday."