Wasps 12 Newcastle Falcons 6

NEWCASTLE boss Steve Bates expects Jonny Wilkinson to play for the club before the end of the season.

Wilkinson, a target of French giants Toulon, has taken longer than expected to recover from the dislocated kneecap which has kept him out since October.

Newcastle have at least three matches left and Bates said: “I think there is every chance he will play before the end of the season.”

The Falcons visit Saracens in the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals next Sunday before playing their final two Premiership matches.

Bates, who insisted he does not know if England’s 2003 World Cup-winning hero is leaving Tyneside in the summer, said: “We will have to see how he goes in training.

“He was closer this week but it is dependent on how he reacts and we’ve got to keep pushing him a little bit more in training.”

Bates declared himself “pretty disappointed” after Newcastle’s second-half rally failed to turn yesterday’s match around.

“We had plenty in the tank in the second half and they looked like a side who had played three games in a week but we made too many errors.

We threw some poor passes today,” he added.

Wasps boss Ian McGeechan insisted he did not try to stand in Josh Lewsey’s way after the former England international announced he would be retiring from rugby at the end of the season.

Lewsey, 32, who won 55 international caps, is to quit at the end of the season.

“Josh has planned what he wants to do and we wish him well,” McGeechan said.

“There aren’t many English backs who will go home with the silverware he’s collected, a World Cup, ten trophies with Wasps and a Lions tour. He’s been hugely significant in English rugby and the same at the club.”

Lewsey hopes to bow out with a place on this summer’s Lions trip to South Africa and McGeechan, manager of the touring side, insisted that his retirement decision will not affect his chances of being selected.

McGeechan praised his side for coping well with their busy schedule as Danny Cipriani kept his Lions tour hopes alive with an impressive display of kicking, which produced 12 points.

The high-profile 21-yearold fly-half, overlooked by England manager Martin Johnson for the RBS 6 Nations, landed three penalties and a sublime drop goal.

He was also instrumental in taking the sting out of a Newcastle side who had won seven of their previous eight Premiership matches.