Wilkinson closer to Six Nations comeback

(CNN) -- England World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson has undergone a second operation in the battle to overcome his latest injury.

A weekend report suggested the Newcastle star faced more knee surgery after suffering a dislocation during the Premiership game against Gloucester in early October.

But Falcons director of rugby 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 a couple of weeks ago," said Bates.

"That was to assess whether the initial operation had been a success, and 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 op had been a success, as with all operations, and 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."

Wilkinson's career has been hit by a succession of injuries since kicking the drop-goal that saw England beat Australia in the 2003 World Cup final in Sydney.

Danny Cipriani and Toby Flood have taken over England fly-half duties during the second half of this year, but Wilkinson still hopes to play some part in the forthcoming Six Nations.

The 29-year-old, England's record scorer with 1032 points in 70 Tests, last played international rugby nine months ago when he went on as a replacement during the 33-10 victory over Ireland.