Jonny Wilkinson, Steven Gerrard and Andrew Flintoff

What was once a metatarsal problem has slipped back to the ankle. The injury jinx that has dogged the talismen of English sport in so many recent tournaments, on Tuesday, claimed another victim in Jonny Wilkinson — on a day when there were further worrying bulletins on Andrew Flintoff and Steven Gerrard.

Wilkinson twisted his right ankle in an innocuous-looking incident in a noncontact training session in Versailles when he was trying to get out of the way of his teammates. He was unable to continue, was soon carried off the pitch on a stretcher and immediately ruled out of England’s first rugby union World Cup match, against the United States in Lens on Saturday.

It was only a couple of hours earlier that he had been named in the England team. The No 10 spot on Saturday will be filled by Olly Barkley, of Bath, although the biggest concern for England is not this weekend’s game but whether Wilkinson will be fit for the next fixture, six days later, against South Africa.

Wilkinson went for a scan Wednesday afternoon and his fitness will be reassessed, after a 24-hour rest and sufficient time to analyse the results. No one was prepared to rule him either in or out for the rest of the tournament, although the South Africa fixture is a vital one for England, whose World Cup chances rest heavily on victory in that pool A game.

Only 35 minutes into England’s first training session since arriving in France the previous day, Wilkinson’s setback was both cruel and typical of the ill-luck that has pursued him since England lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in 2003. And his ankles had, thus far, been a part of his body that had survived unscathed. Just that morning, in a team meeting, the squad had talked about putting adversity behind them. As Mike Ford, the assistant coach, said: “We’re getting pretty cheesed off that there’s maybe excuses for us not to do well in the World Cup. It’s time to stop using them.”

Then another glorious one presented itself. In executing a defence drill, Steve Borthwick went to cover Phil Vickery, Wilkinson jumped out of his way and twisted the ankle in landing. “Jonny was just unlucky,” Ford said.

“He just jumped out of the way and it turned over. The initial pain was very severe but within a couple of minutes it had settled down.”

He nevertheless departed on a stretcher and the plans for Saturday, which had only just been completed, immediately required a redraw. All of a sudden, Barkley is presented with the opportunity to fill the playmakers’ role and, as he said himself, “to make sure I create a few headaches” for the selectors if Wilkinson gets the go-ahead for the week after.

For England, though, the latest problem makes the positives hard to find. This team have had little time together and it was the stated wish of Brian Ashton, the head coach, that the game against the US would give them their first full workout before the game against the Springboks. That is impossible now that their fly half is back on the injured list.

Gerrard missed training in the build-up to England’s European Championship qualifying tie against Israel at Wembley. He, at least, has a chance of playing on Saturday, with Steve McClaren, the England head coach, prepared to defy Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, and sanction a painkilling injection to Gerrard’s broken toe if necessary.

Flintoff has yet to prove his fitness for cricket’s ICC World Twenty20 tournament, which starts next Tuesday, and was last night meeting the surgeon who conducted the third operation on his left ankle, having failed to bowl in the nets in the morning.