Jonny Wilkinson's much-heralded comeback lasted 53 minutes yesterday before he suffered a recurrence of the neck and shoulder injury which had kept him out of action since the World Cup final, and he ended the day having an X-ray at a local hospital after a game in which Wilkinson's Newcastle beat Northampton 23-19.

He joined a list of 15 World Cup squad members who are unable to play or left the pitch early in this weekend's round of Premiership fixtures.

Wilkinson was treated for nearly five minutes after an attempted tackle on the Northampton wing John Clarke. He lay on the ground having his neck and shoulder treated before being slowly led around the outside of the pitch and into the changing-room.

Rest was deemed the best diagnosis for Wilkinson after the World Cup, which would indicate he faces another month on the sidelines, leaving him with little time to prove his fitness before England's Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on February 15th.

The Newcastle director of rugby, Rob Andrew, said he was not prepared to speculate on how long the England outhalf was likely to be out for.

But it was a miserable weekend for the national head coach, Clive Woodward, who yesterday learned that the Bath centre Mike Tindall would miss the Six Nations.

"Jonny took a blow on the shoulder he has been having problems with," said Andrew. "Until we know the results of the X-ray there is no point in guessing on when he may be fit again.

"It was not a mistake in hindsight to play him today. We took every precaution, even to the extent of arranging an X-ray for him yesterday. He was fully fit and it was just that he took another heavy blow on the area where he had had a problem."

Wilkinson had been due to return two weeks ago, only for a scan to reveal that he had, possibly in last month's World Cup final, suffered a stress fracture in his neck. Before yesterday's match, he said that had received a disproportionate amount of attention for what he described as a minor injury.

"The doctors were quick to inform me that it was like having a stress fracture in your arm or leg," he said. "It has been no more serious just because it was my neck and I am just desperately keen to get back into action."

Ironically, it was Wilkinson's departure which turned the match in Newcastle's favour, even though he had scored all his side's points until then. They were losing 13-9 when Dave Walder replaced him, but within nine minutes they were 10 points ahead and two late Paul Grayson penalties gave Northampton the scant consolation of a bonus point.

Walder provided a nine-point effort of his own, converting a try by the wing Michael Stephenson, which Northampton bitterly disputed, before intercepting what would have been a try-scoring pass by Nick Beal and running 95 yards to score under the posts.

"It was bizarre," said the Northampton coach Wayne Smith. "Wilkinson went off and the match turned on its head."

The Saints felt that their wing Bruce Reihana had touched the ball down before Stephenson, though referee Ashley Rowden was well positioned.

"I hope the tape shows he made the right decision," said Smith. "Their two tries were gifts and they had not looked like scoring otherwise. We dominated the game and this is the sort of match on which championships turn."

The first drama of the day had been whether the match would go ahead. A heavy frost had left parts of the uncovered pitch and rutted ground in the shadow of the new grandstand hard underfoot, and it was declared playable by Rowden just 45 minutes before the kick-off.

Wilkinson was immediately in the action, bringing down the scrumhalf Mark Robinson with a typically forthright tackle, and he used the wind advantage to pin back Northampton. Successful kicks at goal put his side 6-0 up after 17 minutes, and he added a third penalty just before the interval after Shane Drahm had kicked two for Northampton.

The Saints had taken the lead through their former Newcastle centre John Leslie when Wilkinson was injured trying to tackle Clarke, who moments earlier had escaped being penalised for a high tackle.

Walder's introduction gave Newcastle an added impetus. "Jonny's injury was a blow, but I owed the team after playing poorly last week and I was desperate to make amends," he said. He seems sure to get further opportunities in the coming weeks as England's World Cup celebrations fade away.

Meanwhile, Wasps extended their advantage over London Irish in the Premiership with a four-try, 34-19 victory at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.

Richard Birkett, Tom Voyce, Mark van Gisbergen and Ayoola Erinle all touched down as the visitors edged an entertaining encounter.