England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson is relishing his first match in French club rugby and will push himself to the limit to make an impact at Toulon.
The 30-year-old, who joined the Top 14 side this summer, believes he has not yet fully embraced his potential.
"I feel I have spent my life playing it safe, not allowing the unknown," said World Cup winner Wilkinson.
"I don't want to finish my career and say 'I did OK, I operated within myself and well done me'."
Wilkinson has endured six years of injury hell since kicking England to World Cup glory in Australia in 2003 but has enjoyed a rare injury-free summer since his move to the south of France from Premiership side Newcastle Falcons.
The fresh start provided by his switch to Toulon, for whom he will play his first competitive match on Friday in the Top 14 curtain-raiser against Stade Francais, has given Wilkinson an opportunity to fulfil his career goals.
"I stood at the bottom of the mountain and played some fabulous rugby," said Wilkinson.
"But when you are halfway up you start looking at the top, which looks great, but you also look down and part of you thinks that staying here is not a bad idea.
"This change is what I have been waiting for."
Wilkinson has spent the past few days at an England training camp but flew back to the south of France last night ahead of the match against Stade Francais.
He will come up against some familiar faces at the Stade Mayol tomorrow, including England team-mates Tom Palmer and James Haskell, who left Wasps in the summer to make the switch to Paris-based Stade Francais.
Haskell, who is not a part of the 32-man England elite player squad but attended the national training camp with Wilkinson, feels moving to France has had a positive effect on the fly-half.
"I just complimented him on his tan," joked Haskell.
"I said to him that I hope the reason he had such a good tan was because he hadn't been on his usual training routines and that we could catch him napping.
"But I don't think that will be the case. He looked in very good shape."
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?