Wilkinson has only played once match since the World Cup

Wilkinson, who missed England's summer tour, has not played since sustaining the injury last December, but has been cleared to resume full training.

"I'll begin contact work next week," he told the Times newspaper on Tuesday.

"If there was a game next week then I'd have done my collision contact work already and be able to take some hits."

Wilkinson admits his "body will probably never be the same again", but is confident the surgery on his neck will not affect his ability to tackle.

"I know I haven't got a bad neck any more and that's the first time I've been able to say that since I was 14," he said.

England's World Cup hero did concede however that there was a time when he thought his rugby career was over.

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"I did not realise how close I came to not playing again," he added in The Sun newspaper.

"If the strength had not come back, I realise there was nothing I could do about it. Without doubt, one little injury has changed my life."