Gatland moving on from Wilko

Jonny Wilkinson turned down the opportunity to tour with the Lions when asked by Warren Gatland, pictured
21 May 2013

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has ruled out making another offer to Jonny Wilkinson to join the forthcoming tour to Australia.

Wilkinson was crowned European player of the year on Sunday, less than 24 hours after steering Toulon to victory over Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup final. The 33-year-old was asked to tour by Gatland before the 37-strong squad was announced on April 30, but he rejected the opportunity due to his commitments at Toulon and deteriorating fitness.

"We've been through the conversation that we had with Jonny and nothing's changed on that," the Kiwi said. "If we picked up an injury on tour then maybe there's a conversation to be had. Jonny's a good player, but we've had the conversation about him."

Jonathan Sexton and Owen Farrell are the two options at fly-half for the Lions, with full-back Stuart Hogg providing cover.

Quade Cooper was overlooked for Australia's initial 25-man group to face the Lions, but Gatland expects the in-form Reds playmaker to make the cut when the final squad is announced on June 11.

Gatland said: "I think they're just assessing his form and I presume he's going to be added later on.

"It's difficult for me to comment on the Australians, because I don't pick the Australian squad.

"I don't know what's going on with the politics down there, but we watch the games and that's all we've been watching; the form of the players and assessing how some of the teams have been going.

"There's more than just Quade Cooper, there's one or two others who have been left out at this stage who I presume will be added when the larger squad is put together in a couple of weeks."

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