In 1985 the former Gloucester and Lions forward Mike Burton, a players' agent, raconteur, businessman, after-dinner speaker and the first England player to be sent off, rushed into print with a slim volume - probably another first for a prop.

The Alternative Coaching Manual was an antidote to the rash of serious coaching manuals available at the time: a bit like The Art of Coarse Rugby only coarser. Under captaincy he wrote: "In broad terms it was agreed that the captain should be someone who thought himself tough enough to kick ass whilst at the same time maintaining the respect of the players."

A year earlier I made my debut for England. The side to play Australia was announced midweek and the following Sunday I got a phone call saying: "And by the way, you're captain." That was it. No press conference. No formal announcement. I never knew whether the selectors had thought long and hard about the best man for the job or whether it was an afterthought.

We met up in Worcester (which was where our two centres introduced themselves to each other in the bath) but during the match week the squad was not allowed to gather until the Thursday, although the forwards had a sneaky scrummaging session on Wednesday night, arguing that they weren't the "whole" squad. We didn't see the press until the final training session on the Friday.

The game plan wasn't exactly cutting-edge - kick for territory and then try something from there - and the lineout was even simpler. On one side of the field we threw to one jumper and on the other we threw to the other. If that didn't fox Australia I could reverse the call by putting my hands on my knees. Cunning stuff.

And that was the plan all afternoon. We didn't go off at half-time, so the coach could only sit in the stand and fume if things went wrong. And they did.

Gareth Chilcott, another debutant, laid out Nick Farr-Jones in the first minute (the ref didn't see it and the touch judges weren't allowed to intervene) but we still went down 19-3 - not because of the game plan, which was the same used by Australia and more or less every other team at the time.

Next month Jonny Wilkinson will captain England against Australia for the third of the autumn internationals. It will be his 55th cap but Burton's words will be just as valid for the new captain, even though the circumstances couldn't be more different.

The current England squad are together more often than most families and Wilkinson has been with them since 1997. They will have dozens of calls and plans for every phase of the game - getting the ball into the lineout these days is a bit like Come Dancing - and the coaching team are in radio contact with runners who ferry their wisdom from the touchline.

But the five basic requirements for a good captain are the same, and it's interesting to see how Wilkinson stacks up.

Look at the best of the modern era: Sean Fitzpatrick, the underrated Will Carling, Francois Pienaar, John Eales and Martin Johnson. They were (eventually) all good communicators, their personal form always merited a place in the team, they commanded respect, they knew how to manage a game, and all could kick ass.

Award marks, two for each category, and all five would get 10. Do the same for Wilkinson and the current total is seven.

He gets maximum for communication and respect, but only one each for game management, because that comes with experience, for the kick-ass factor, because although the emotion necessary is clearly part of his make-up we just don't know whether he can do it, and for his current personal form.

England, I suspect, would rather have a great outside-half than a super captain and at present Wilkinson is not hitting the heights. He is missing tackles and kicks. But there is time before the Canada game on November 13 and he's not that far off.

And then he will be playing behind a big, powerful pack and with a scrum-half who gives him more time and protection than he gets at Newcastle. Better players inside and outside him will banish the feeling that he has to do everything himself and I have a sneaking suspicion that, given the time that Fitzpatrick, Carling, Pienaar, Eales and Johnson all got, the captaincy may make him an even better player.