He was an integral member of the England squad which won the 2003 World Cup, scoring the winning drop goal in the last minute of extra time against Australia in the final.

He attended Pierrepont School, Frensham and Lord Wandsworth College near Hook, Hampshire, and played at youth level for Farnham Rugby Club.

[6] Wilkinson started his career at Newcastle School of Rugby as an inside centre, competing for a place with international veterans such as Inga Tuigamala, and Lion Alan Tait.

[9] Wilkinson returned to domestic duties by taking over from Rob Andrew, who was made Falcons head coach (later Director of Rugby), as both their fly-half and goal kicker.

He made his Rugby World Cup debut against Italy, scoring one try, converting another six and landing five penalty goals to rack up 32 individual points in the 67–7 win.

As a result of Neil Jenkins suffering a number of injuries and a dip in form, Wilkinson was picked as the first choice fly-half and goal kicker for the 2001 British Lions tour to Australia in July.

After being rested as an unused bench replacement in the subsequent match against Romania, he then played a large role in a win over the Springboks, in which he kicked seven penalty goals in the 29–9 victory.

Two tries by winger Ben Cohen and Wilkinson's kicking accuracy saw England come back from a 19–31 deficit to defeat Australia by a single point in a 32–31 victory.

For the game against Italy, Wilkinson was chosen as the captain of the squad for the first time in his England career, as Martin Johnson was unavailable due to the birth of his first child.

The subsequent match against Samoa in Melbourne was surprisingly close for the number-one-ranked rugby nation against a supposed "minnow" of international competition, but England pulled off a 35–22 win.

In the final versus Australia, with the scores level at 17–17, Wilkinson received a pass and kicked a drop goal in extra time with just 26 seconds remaining; England won 20–17.

Within a couple of weeks of winning the World Cup, Wilkinson was found to have had a broken facet in his shoulder and missed the 2004 Six Nations Championship and the disastrous tour of New Zealand and Australia.

In almost 18 months, he had played a total of only 937.5 minutes of competitive rugby union, but was nonetheless given a chance to prove his fitness for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

Wilkinson started as captain in the Falcons last 2005-06 Guinness Premiership game of the season on Saturday, 6 May 2006, converting six of his team's eight tries in their 54–19 victory over Leeds Tykes.

Rob Andrew stated in July, pre-season to the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership, that Wilkinson would be ready to challenge for an England position come the November internationals.

Captaincy of the Falcons was also given to former Wallabies fullback Matt Burke, a move that Andrew believed would allow Wilkinson to concentrate more on his game and a full return to rugby.

During the second game of the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership season against Worcester Warriors on Friday, 8 September, Wilkinson was helped from the pitch after 47 minutes with a knee injury incurred when one of his team members fell on him after he was tackled.

England comprehensively beat Scotland 42–20 to regain the Calcutta Cup, Wilkinson making an impressive return,[19][20] scoring 27 points with five penalties, two conversions, a drop goal, and a try.

Wilkinson did not play in the two remaining Six Nations games against France and Wales due to the effects of a cramp that forced him off in the Premiership 38–12 defeat to London Irish on 3 March.

[25] Despite missing the season's last Premiership game against Bath, Wilkinson made the England squad for the summer tour and scored 5 points in the first test's record 58–10 loss to South Africa.

[28] In the first of three warm up tests before the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Wilkinson had an impressive game, scoring 17 points (seven conversions and a penalty) in the 62–5 demolition of Wales.

[29] Due to a non-contact ankle injury sustained in training,[30] Wilkinson was not included in the teams for the opening games of the 2007 Rugby World Cup against the United States and then South Africa.

He continued to play a major role in England's defence of the World Cup by kicking 9 points, including a 40-metre drop goal in the dying minutes, in their 14–9 semi-final victory over France.

However, close to the start of the second half during the Ireland match on 15 March, Wilkinson was brought off the bench to replace Toby Flood, thus playing alongside Cipriani at inside centre.

[citation needed] Because of a succession of injuries – affecting his knee ligaments, arm, shoulder and kidney – Wilkinson's international career was severely disrupted.

[42] On 6 October 2007, he also became the highest point-scorer in the history of the Rugby World Cup, kicking four penalties to overtake Scotland's Gavin Hastings in a quarter-final against Australia.

Injury forced him to miss out on the 2010 autumn internationals, in the process losing his position as the all-time leading points scorer in test rugby to Dan Carter.

On 26 February 2011, Wilkinson regained the record for the highest tally of International points, overtaking Dan Carter of New Zealand by scoring a penalty against France in a Six Nations match at Twickenham.

[67] The diary documented the England rugby players' strike, the Newcastle Falcons winning the Powergen Cup, the 2001 Six Nations Championship and the British & Irish Lions tour at the end of the year.

[79] On 28 October 2013, Wilkinson married his girlfriend of eight years, scaffolding company heiress Shelley Jenkins, in a private ceremony at the town hall of the French resort of Bandol, to the west of Toulon.