Jonny Wilkinson would answer an SOS from the Lions

Jonny Wilkinson has vowed to do everything he can to be fit and ready to answer an injury SOS from the British and Irish Lions if the call was to come this summer.

Wilkinson is playing some of the best rugby of his career and he was named European player of the year after captaining Toulon to their Heineken Cup triumph.

But he was omitted from Warren Gatland’s initial 37-man squad because club commitments meant he could not guarantee being available to fly out with the rest of the touring party.

Toulon play Toulouse in the French Top 14 semi-final on Friday, with the final on the same day as the Lions play the Barbarians in Hong Kong.

Jonathan Sexton and Owen Farrell are the only front-line fly-halves on tour but Wilkinson agreed to be on standby in case of injury.

He said: “I’ve been asked if I’ll be an injury replacement. I’ve said ‘quite happily. Let me get to the end of the season and see if I’m not the one who needs replacing, rather than the one who goes out there’.

“I can’t guarantee the state I’ll be in.”