With fly-half Jonny Wilkinson again sidelined through injury, England head coach Andy Robinson had no hesitation in keeping Jason Robinson at the helm.

“Jason has the respect of the whole squad and proved himself to be a true leader last November on and off the pitch,” said Robinson

“We are fortunate to be able to call upon him to step up to the captaincy role while Jonny Wilkinson recovers from his knee injury.”

England beat Canada and South Africa under Jason Robinson’s leadership, but then lost to Australia in a thrilling Twickenham encounter.

Robinson was among an England squad that trained with Super League champions Leeds Rhinos today. Rhinos coach Tony Smith led this afternoon’s session, and training tomorrow will involve both rugby codes playing league at Headingley.

It was confirmed tonight that Wasps centre Stuart Abbott will be in plaster for 12 weeks after breaking his right leg during the Heineken Cup defeat against Biarritz on Saturday.

Abbott would have been a contender for the inside-centre berth against Wales, but will now sit out the entire Six Nations tournament.

And Robinson has invited two more players to Leeds for the three-day session - Gloucester number eight Adam Balding and Leicester fly-half Andy Goode.