Injury-plagued England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has been ruled out for another month, this time by kidney damage.

England's 2003 World Cup hero was sidelined for eight weeks by a medial knee ligament injury but returned and played the full 80 minutes of Newcastle's 26-21 win over Bristol on Friday.

But the 27-year-old sustained kidney damage during the game and has suffered pain in the area since.

Medical examinations have shown damage to the kidney and Wilkinson has been advised to rest for one month before resuming any form of training. No operation is required to fix the problem.

Wilkinson had made three starts for the Falcons this season, scoring 27 points. Having started the season at Northampton he limped off in the home win over Worcester on September 8th with knee trouble, only making his comeback last Friday.

The news comes the day after the Falcons discovered that number eight Phil Dowson will miss the rest of this season with a bicep injury suffered in last month's match at Wasps.

The 25-year-old has suffered a bicep tendon rupture, and will undergo an operation on Monday.