Falcons reveal second Wilko op
Newcastle have confirmed that Jonny Wilkinson has undergone a second operation in the battle to overcome his latest injury.
Rumours surfaced over the weekend that England star Wilkinson faced further knee surgery after suffering a dislocation during Newcastle's Guinness Premiership game against Gloucester in early October. But Falcons rugby director Steve Bates revealed the scheduled procedure has already taken place.
"As was always the plan, the back-up to the original operation was to have an arthroscopy, which took place in the north-east a couple of weeks ago," said Bates.
"That was to assess whether the initial operation had been a success.
"The surgeon who did that original operation is saying that everything looks okay to proceed on to the next stage of his rehabilitation, which will involve making sure that strengthening, flexibility and all those sorts of issues are dealt with.
"That has a timescale all of its own, depending on how he responds, but at least the initial hurdle seems to have been overcome.
"There was always going to be a little doubt about whether the original operation had been a success, as with all operations.
"Now that we are hopefully past that stage, it's just a case of continually monitoring how he progresses, rather than now giving a timescale of when he will be back playing."
