British and Irish Lions

Jonny Wilkinson fulfils a 13-year dream when he captains England for the first time on Sunday - but is adamant it will be business as usual when he leads the side out against Italy at Twickenham.

The 23-year-old fly-half, who passed the 600-point mark in internationals in the opening RBS 6 Nations match against France, has made his only concession to the demands of the new role.

He split his daily goalkicking practice session in two to attend the captain's press conference at the team's Surrey training headquarters.

But on Sunday, perfectionist Wilkinson will leave vice-captain Lawrence Dallaglio in charge in the dressing room while he goes through his 45-minute kicking practice routine out on the Twickenham pitch.

Wilkinson revealed he was "massively excited" about his one-match appointment in place of injured skipper Martin Johnson which has turned a boyhood dream into reality.

"When I was 10 or 11 playing in mini rugby and we were training at weekends we would talk about the England team with Will Carling as captain and Jeremy Guscott in the back line. This was my first experience of what I wanted to follow," he said.

Lions skipper Sam Warburton says the lessons he and his Welsh colleagues learnt in Australia last summer will stand them in good stead for their return visit with Britain and Ireland's elite next month.

Tom Youngs has enjoyed a remarkable rise to the top of the British & Irish game but he won't be resting on his laurels ahead of his first Lions adventure.