Click to download the image above as a full-sized PDF file

An injury crisis this winter may have left England with precious few experienced players in the squad for Saturday’s international at Twickenham, but Jason Robinson, the former England back, believes that a resurgent Jonny Wilkinson can knock the stuffing out of Australia.

The most recent of Wilkinson’s 70 caps for England came in March 2008, but he has been playing better than ever for Toulon, the French club whom he joined in the summer, and at the age of 30 still has a few games left in him.

“The Wilkinson factor is a big plus for England,” Robinson said. “One of the things England lacked last year was leaders and the return of Wilkinson and Steve Thompson [the hooker] gives England crucial leadership.”

Wilkinson, Thompson and Lewis Moody are three of only four players in the squad for Saturday who have won more than 40 caps — Steve Borthwick, the captain, is the other — and all three played alongside Robinson in the 2003 World Cup final against Australia. While it was Wilkinson’s dropped goal that ultimately won that match, Robinson believes that the key to beating Australia this weekend is through hard tackling and forcing turnover ball. Fortunately, Wilkinson excels at that as well.

Among the leading fly halves of the past decade, Wilkinson’s average of almost nine tackles per game is second only to David Skrela, of France. The analysis also shows that teams — be they England, Toulon or Newcastle Falcons, his former club — are much more likely to win with Wilkinson in the XV and that England score an average of three points per game more when Wilkinson is playing. They also concede four points fewer, a testament to the role he plays in defence.

“Defence is what really makes Jonny stand out from other No 10s,” said Robinson, speaking on behalf of Gillette Winter Defence, which commissioned the research. “Normally sides try to protect their No 10, but time and again you see Jonny putting in most of the biggest hits.

“He is not a big guy, but his technique and his strength are very good. I would not be surprised to see Jonny move into the centre to defend against set-pieces so that he can protect the midfield, with Shane Geraghty coming into fly half.”

By hitting Australia hard and early, England can force — and possibly exploit — turnovers. “If England are to win, they will have to be spot-on defensively,” Robinson said. “As in the quarter-final of the 2007 World Cup against Australia, they need to hit them hard, knock them back and look to someone like Lewis Moody to get the ball and set the backs going. With Mark Cueto, Ugo Monye and Matt Banahan, we have a very big and powerful back three who can punish Australia on the counter-attack.”

Martin Johnson, the England team manager, has had one hand tied behind his pack in terms of selection, with 11 of his 32-man training squad injured, but Robinson said that it could be a blessing in disguise.

“Our players seem to be more injured than ever before, but the flip side of an injury is that it gives someone else an opportunity,” he said. “When I made my debut in 2001, it was because Dan Luger was injured. The guys that come in have to take their chance.”

With Wilkinson having had more than his fair share of injuries over the years — and with England needing him fit for challenges against Argentina and New Zealand this winter — it would be understandable if fans wanted the fly half to rein in his more committed tackles and let others risk injury, but Robinson said that Wilkinson should remain as gung-ho as ever.

“It is what has made him who he is,” Robinson, the Sale Sharks head coach, said. “One hundred per cent is his way. To play with anything less than full commitment would not be the real Jonny. But he will never go into a tackle looking to take it easy.

“Sometimes you can come out of a tackle with an injury, but he has caused a lot more damage back to those he has tackled.”