Wilkinson causes more concern for England with broken rib fear

Jonny Wilkinson has handed England an injury scare after he hobbled out of the Amlin Challenge Cup final with a possible broken rib.

Wilkinson's departure early in the second half, with Toulon

13-6 up, proved to be the turning point as Cardiff Blues mounted a stunning second-half comeback to win 28-21.

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Jamie Roberts, Leigh Halfpenny and Bradley Davies scored the tries as the Blues ended a 15-year wait for a Welsh club or region to win a European title.

Wilkinson will undergo a scan within the next 24 hours – probably tomorrow – which will determine whether he is fit to join England on their summer tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Iain Balshaw'S dream of becoming a Heineken Cup winner ended with Biarritz's 21-19 defeat against Toulouse at Stade de France.

He can now look forward to spending "six weeks in the sun" with his young family while England test themselves in a five-match tour of Australia and New Zealand next month.

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Toulouse's fourth Heineken Cup final victory confirmed their status as the dominant team during the tournament's 15-year history.

"I will enjoy my six weeks off in the sun and rest up," said the former Bath, Leeds and Gloucester player, who has won 35 caps.

"Obviously, you always want to play for your country, and I am no different, but it's not at the forefront of my mind. I am very happy to spend six weeks with my family. I've got another year on my Biarritz contract left, and then we'll see what happens."

Yorkshire enjoyed a narrow 30-28 win in the Roses match against Lancashire at Huddersfield but their margin of victory was insufficient to earn a place in next Sunday's final of the County Championship at Twickenham.

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Tries by centre Kyle Dench and winger Stephen Parsons, both Harrogate, and No 8 Jon Skurr of Rotherham Titans helped gain revenge for last season's defeat as did accurate goal kicking by full-back Richard Vasey, who struck three conversions and three penalties, including the match-winning effort late in the second half.

At one stage, it appeared that Lancashire would be well beaten after Yorkshire established a lead of 24-6,but the Red Rose county recovered strongly to score three tries and stole a one-point lead at 28-27.

However, on 73 minutes Vasey, now playing at Caldy but formerly at Leeds Carnegie, put over his third penalty to regain the lead in an entertaining contest, and although Yorkshire went on to win, they did not beat Lancashire by the 12 points required to reach Twickenham.

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