Jonny Wilkinson has been named as the new England rugby union captain. He takes over from Lawrence Dallaglio, who retired from international rugby earlier this year.
The Newcastle fly-half's first game in charge will be at Twickenham against Canada on November 13, followed by the visit of Tri-Nations champions South Africa a week later and then Australia.
It promises to be a tough baptism for Wilkinson as England begin the post-Sir Clive Woodward era under current caretaker boss Andy Robinson and without the likes of Dallaglio, Matt Dawson or Neil Back.
In choosing Wilkinson, England's acting head coach Andy Robinson said his priority was to select a player capable of leading England in its defence of the Rugby World Cup in 2007.
"There are several players in the squad I would feel comfortable in calling upon to be England captain but for me Jonny is in every way the right player to take on this challenge," said Robinson. "He is a natural leader, holds the respect of the whole squad, is a formidable talent on the pitch and consistently demonstrates the energy and commitment I feel is essential to be captain of England."
"I am confident Jonny has what it takes to do an outstanding job as we look ahead towards the next World Cup in France and I look forward to working with him."
There have been 117 captains of England since Fred Stokes held the position in 1871 and Wilkinson expressed his joy at joining the long and distinguished list.
"It's the ambition of so many players to one day be captain of England and today I have realised a dream," he said. "I'm honoured Andy wants me to be his captain, and to follow Lawrence and Martin [Johnson] means a lot to me as they are inspirational men who have given so much to England rugby over many years.
"Taking on the captaincy is another important step in my career and I do so with immense pride."
Johnson, England's World Cup winning captain, also gave Wilkinson his seal of approval. "Jonny has to be himself. He is a very intense guy and he doesn't really chase the limelight but that's fine," he said. "There will be a little bit more talking to the team than he's done and a few more press conferences before Tests but you can do as much or as little of that as you want to when you're captain.
"What's important is that Jonny has handled pressure well in the past and he is incredibly consistent as well as being incredibly dedicated."
Wilkinson, promoted to English rugby's top playing post just four months after his 25th birthday, has scored 817 points in 52 Tests, but will be concerned about re-establishing himself on the international stage having missed England's last eight Tests because of injury.
In his absence, the world champions lost five times - against New Zealand (twice), Australia, France and Ireland - and recorded victories over Scotland, Wales and Italy.
Wilkinson has had one previous taste of the England captaincy, taking charge for the Six Nations Championship clash against Italy at Twickenham in March 2003 when Martin Johnson was injured. England won 40-5.
