Some of the biggest names in rugby will miss the kick off of this season's Six Nations rugby championship.
Martin Johnson, Fabien Galthie, Rafael Ibanez, Keith Wood ... Jonny Wilkinson.
While Johnson, Galthie, Ibanez and Wood are among stars who retired from international rugby after the World Cup, the man who kicked the match-winning drop goal that clinched England's historic triumph is almost certain to be watching instead of playing when his teammates face Italy in Rome.
Wilkinson has managed less than an hour of rugby since that dramatic extra time kick against Australia in Sydney captured a 20-17 victory.
He is struggling with an injury that affects the nerves in his neck and shoulder and shows little sign of improving. Coach Clive Woodward says he's 99.9 percent certain to miss the game.
While that gives a chance for Paul Grayson, Alex King or Olly Barkley a rare chance to shine, his absence takes some of the spark out of the championship for at least the first two rounds.
Wilkinson is the world's best player, not only for his ability to kick goals from almost anywhere on the field, but for his imaginative attacking play and ferocious tackling.
No one is good enough to make up for all those missing qualities, but Woodward said England has impressive backup.
"We're pretty spoilt for choice at fly half at the moment," Woodward said. "It's not about chucking someone in to give them experience. We want to win the tournament and to do that we have to win the first game against Italy. It's as simple as that."
Lawrence Dallaglio is back as England captain in place of Johnson, who plays for Leicester, and the rest of Woodward's lineup against the Italians in Rome should closely resemble the team that triumphed in Australia.
The bookmakers rate England a hot favorite to improve its record of Six Nations titles to 26 and also complete a 13th Grand Slam, also unmatched by any of its rivals.
french threat
Despite the retirement of Galthie and Ibanez, France is considered its only real rival and the two European rugby giants will meet in Paris on March 27 in the final match of the championship in what should be a Grand Slam decider.
The French host Ireland in their opening game with the Irish hoping to make up for a dismal World Cup quarterfinal performance in Melbourne where France cruised to a 43-21 victory.
France has held on to 16 of the World Cup squad that finished in fourth place in Australia, including its standout back row of Olivier Magne, Serge Betsen and Imanol Harinordoquy.
But coach Bernard Laporte has called up new faces such as forwards William Servat of Stade Toulousain and Pascal Pape of Bourgoin,
"Our objective is to reconcile the present and the future," team manager Jo Maso said. "We want to win the Six Nations. That's why we built this group with men who appeared to be us to be most in-form."
Irish front row star Keith Wood has finally retired from all levels of rugby and Shane Byrne, who has waited eight years for him to step aside, finally gets his chance.
"I feel like I'm only starting," the Leinster hooker said. "I waited a long time to get this chance and now it's fantastic. I'm really enjoying it.
"I can really say that, even with the seven- or eight-year wait, I wouldn't change a thing."
The way the championship looks like shaping up, England and France should dispute the titles, Ireland should comfortably hold on to third place and Wales, Scotland and Italy will try to avoid finishing last.
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