Wilkinson to lead England

Brooke told BBC Sport: "It comes down to whether there was anyone else.

"The answer really is no. So that makes Wilkinson the only choice but, that said, the right choice.

"Wilko's appointment is definitely not a token one. It's deserved and I think he'll thrive on the captaincy. He'll have the respect of all the players."

Wilkinson will lead England for the first time against Canada at Twickenham on 13 November.

He had been the firm favourite to take over the captain's armband following Lawrence Dallaglio's decision to retire from international rugby, with forwards Richard Hill and Phil Vickery also in contention.

But Brooke said: "Hill's now injured and Vickery's just about to come back so they were not really viable candidates."

Wilkinson has led England once before in place of Martin Johnson but critics have suggested the fly-half's game would be affected by the role.

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"He and England have just got to work around his preparation for games," said Brooke. "If something has to reshuffle as a result that's fine, but he easily can do both roles.

"This guy is relentless in what he does. Those two things will combine well and won't be a problem.

"He's just got to do his own job first and the captaincy will look after itself. You can't go on telling people what to do and then not do it yourself. You just need to be the best you possibly can.

"Players need to be inspired and their captain kicking them out of trouble consistently will be the perfect tonic."

Wilkinson's tenure is likely to be far different from Dallaglio's emotion-filled approach to the role.

Wilkinson targets change

That does not, however, mean England will change their approach, according to Brooke.

He said: "There's no real difference by him taking over from Lawrence. Lawrence was a very passionate man - blubbing in the national anthems and all that.

"The emotion will still be there with Jonny but he is a little more reserved - sort of in the mould of Martin Johnson.

"And you can be sure that under that cool, focused exterior, the passion will be burning deep inside."