JONNY Be Good, proclaims the England fans' banner at the World Cup, and so far that's all he has been. But in tomorrow's semi-final against France he will need to be absolutely marvellous.

As if combining his duties as the general orchestrator of England's play with living up to his reputation as the world's best goal-kicker were not enough, Jonny Wilkinson has been trying to do the job of a fourth back row forward.

We know the Newcastle Falcons star relishes the physical side of the game, and his awesome tackling was the highlight of last season's Grand Slam clincher against Ireland. But hitting rucks and mauls is not the job of the fly half, especially if it leaves someone far less competent standing off at first receiver.

Perhaps Jonny has been trying to compensate for the absence of Richard Hill, or perhaps he's simply responding to coach Clive Woodward's vision of total rugby, with 15 players looking comfortable all over the pitch.

Thankfully, Hill is back. I wrote before the event that England's strength in depth meant the one man they couldn't do without was Wilkinson. I was wrong. Hill is one of those unsung heroes whose true value isn't appreciated until he isn't there.

When England had turned their 10-3 half-time deficit against Wales last Sunday into a 16-10 lead they had the chance to turn the screw. But Hill's deputy, Lewis Moody, caught the restart and promptly lost the ball in contact, as he did all too often during his three appearances.

With Hill and Josh Lewsey back, and Mike Catt installed at centre, England are at full-strength for the first time, which is a very good omen.

They haven't needed to be anywhere near their best to stumble into the semi-finals, but now is the time to deliver.

England have committed £2m to this campaign and if they fail now an awful lot of dreams will be shattered, a great deal of hard work will be considered wasted and the Pom-bashing Down Under will turn into intolerable gloating.

The quarter-finals panned out as predicted and the only surprise so far has been that Wales pushed England too close for comfort.

It might not have happened had England earned the usual reward for a bright start, but for the second time in the tournament Wilkinson hit the post with a penalty he would kick 98 times out of a hundred.

He has had his two failures, and hopefully someone in England's entourage of 19 back-up men will find a way to send him out sufficiently relaxed to do himself justice.

If England win the World Cup Wilkinson could still emerge as the leading points scorer, but at the moment he is behind his opposite number tomorrow, Frederic Michalak.

While Wilkinson is so deep into his cocoon of concentration that he can barely move his lips during the national anthem, Michalak is a free spirit who nonchalantly kicks goals without recourse to Jonny's methodical routine.

But as the French have found in the past, there are days when the spirit goes walkabout and semi-final time against England could well be it.

Michalak is only 21 and has no depth of experience to fall back on when the going gets tough. Both fly halves will be targeted and the one who survives the better might well win the game.

But the men doing the targeting could also prove decisive. Going into the World Cup, England's back row of Hill, Neil Back and Lawrence Dallaglio might have been considered as good as any, but even with Hill back they will struggle to match the sheer athleticism of the French trio.

Olivier Magne, Serge Betsen and No 8 Imanol Harinordoquy were absolutely outstanding against Ireland, for whom people like Victor Costello were suddenly made to look extremely ordinary.

Dallaglio has been ordinary so far. But he will be better with Hill alongside him and is a man of such experience and stature that he will know now is the time to hit his peak. Nothing else will be good enough.