“It’s nice to be back in England,” said Wilkinson, tanned after several months on the Mediterranean. “Arriving at Stansted airport was nice until I got to passport control – things got a bit busy then!,” he joked.

“The atmosphere with a full stadium and an opportunity to start is exciting, but when I walk out on to the pitch, I won’t know what to expect and I’m sure it will be intense.”

“I just know the challenge for me will always be to meet my own expectations,” he says. “Wednesday afternoon before a Friday night game, you start to get those inclinations to go into your shell and try to work out: ‘what if this happens, what if that happens, what is this situation going to be like’?”

“On the other hand, as soon as the whistle goes I will do what I have always done which is to revert to type and do the best I can with what is going on around me, and make decisions based on what I think needs to be done based on my experience and try to help the guys kick off with a win.” With an injury-plagued squad set to visit Stade Mayol, it is easy to see why Toulon are likely to start at around 1.57 for the season’s opening encounter.

“It’s difficult when people ask about the season without saying we want to finish first,” Wilkinson conceded after a recent friendly. “There is no point saying I hope we finish third or fourth as it means we are actually choosing to lose games. We are not choosing to lose games,”