The 23-year-old fly-half, who passed the 600-point mark in internationals in the opening RBS 6 Nations match against France, has made his only concession to the demands of the new role.

He split his daily goalkicking practice session in two to attend the captain's press conference at the team's Surrey training headquarters.

But on Sunday, perfectionist Wilkinson will leave vice-captain Lawrence Dallaglio in charge in the dressing room while he goes through his 45-minute kicking practice routine out on the Twickenham pitch.

Wilkinson revealed he was "massively excited" about his one-match appointment in place of injured skipper Martin Johnson which has turned a boyhood dream into reality.

"When I was 10 or 11 playing in mini rugby and we were training at weekends we would talk about the England team with Will Carling as captain and Jeremy Guscott in the back line. This was my first experience of what I wanted to follow," he said.