The England fly-half had spoken in the game’s build up of aiming to lift his own game to the perfect 10 but when asked afterward how he rated his debut Wilkinson chuckled, before replying: “I’d say my report card would be along the lines of ‘tried hard’. It was good to be back again but there’s a hell of a lot of things to learn and I have a real desire to learn quick and get back on the field.

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“The atmosphere was brilliant – something to be savoured and embraced. I didn’t want to lose touch with the game, I just wanted to get involved and come out here and make a real success of it,” he said.

Wilkinson admitted it would be back to the classroom next week. “It is different here, there’s a lot of different bits to take on board. That’s going to be the strength of how I contribute to this team – how quickly I pick that up I suppose.

“I wasn’t kicking that well today. Before the game I didn’t feel I was kicking that well and I think you could see with a couple of wider ones I wasn’t really troubling the target, but thankfully the drop-goal went over. It’s just a shame we had the lead for most of the game, and to hold on to that would have been a big thing. As it was, it turns out to be a draw and there’s got to be a lot of lessons there to learn,” he added.

Toulon’s English team manager Tom Whitford was impressed by Wilkinson’s performance. “I think he did well in his first game back for 10 months. Obviously be can improve certain aspects of his play, as can the whole team, but it was out first game back and there’s lots to work on. If everything was perfect then I would be worried.”

And Whitford said he had been impressed by how Wilkinson had dealt with the media hullabaloo surrounding his move to France.

“There’s a lot of attention of Jonny, and rightly so because he’s a great player. I think the other players probably feel sorry for him because he does get so much attention. Most players can just go home, but wherever he goes he gets hounded for autographs and things like that. It’s not particularly pleasant to be honest. I suppose when you’re a youngster it’s quite novel but after a while it can get quite annoying. And with the press as well, but he’s very patient. He’s an amazing guy.

Wilkinson’s South African teammate Ross Skeate was also impressed. “I thought Jonny went well today. Obviously it was his first one up and he was under a lot of pressure. When we got off the bus and walked through to the stadium I was amazed at what a big star he is with people just reaching out to try and touch him, like they were reaching out to touch a Saint. I thought he kicked well, although knowing him he’ll be disappointed with the one or two misses, but we’re going to find his boot invaluable this year. It was something we were a bit short of last year, it cost us a few games.”

Match report: Toulon 22 Stade Francais 22

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