Wilkinson suffered a slight knock to his arm in the match

The World Cup final hero kicked a penalty before being replaced by Dave Walder as Newcastle took a pre-season 32-9 win against Irish side Connacht.

Wilkinson, who later held an ice pack to his arm, has been out of action for months with a neck and shoulder injury.

"A feeling of relief came through as much as anything else. There is no reaction at all," Wilkinson said.

The 25-year-old admitted that he had feared for his career after the longest injury-enforced break of his life. Before the Connacht game, he had played only 53 minutes of rugby since the World Cup final on 22 November 2003.

But after an extensive rehabilitation programme, the 25-year-old has now finally returned to action.

"Today was really valuable, and I am pleased to get through it, get rid of the rustiness and get back on the field," he said.

"Now I want to concentrate more on the game rather than the shoulder."

He took some pretty big hits and in terms of the physical side there is no issue there Newcastle's Rob Andrew

Wilkinson is likely to make his next appearance when Newcastle tackle Munster in Limerick next Monday.

He is also well on course for a Zurich Premiership return at newly-promoted Worcester on 4 September.

Newcastle boss Rob Andrew was delighted, saying: "Jonny is very pleased.

"He took some pretty big hits, and in terms of the physical side, there is no issue there.

"All he wants to do now is play again on Monday. It couldn't have gone any better, to be honest.

"We weren't concerned about him. If you had seen him in training during the last two weeks, then you wouldn't have had any concern.

"This game was a fantastic workout for the whole squad, and it was a great start for us."

Wilkinson has missed eight Test matches since his surgery, of which England won only three.

England's next international is against Canada at Twickenham on 13 November, and coach Sir Clive Woodward would hope to have Wilkinson available for selection by then.