Jonny Wilkinson arrived in the South of France yesterday to start house hunting in preparation for his new life on the Côte d’Azur. He will today be formally presented to an expectant public in Toulon who still cannot quite believe that one of the world’s greatest players is joining them next season.

“I don’t think Jonny appreciates how excited people are by him coming here,” Tom Whitford, the Toulon team manager, said. “He is an icon. The town is so unbelievably passionate about rugby and for him to be here is a real coup for us and the region.”

Anthony Hill, the general manager at nearby Nice, was less circumspect. “The place is going bonkers at Jonny’s arrival,” he said.

Wilkinson, who was 30 on Monday, admits he is not sure what to expect this lunchtime at the Stade Mayor. He will, however, take it in his stride and feel genuinely humbled that people care so much about him. Jonnymania is about to begin afresh but this time around he is keen to embrace it rather than try to run and hide.

Sitting on a hotel terrace overlooking the sea in Nice before travelling down to Toulon this morning, Wilkinson looks the picture of health. His hair has been cut shorter, his body is in fine fettle after nine months’ rehabilitation and he is enthused by the prospect of the fresh challenge after 12 years at Newcastle Falcons. It is not hard to see why he has swapped the North East for the shimmering blue waters of the Mediterranean and the year-round sunshine.

He will meet the media this lunchtime, converse in French, and then start to undergo a rigorous medical before continuing with Shelley, his girlfriend, his search for the ideal bolt hole in one of the pretty villages dotting the coastline. Initially he has signed for one year with an option for two more. After 16 injuries in six years, the fly half does not wish to look too far ahead, merely do himself justice.

“I have learnt that life is not about trying to hold on to things or hide away, it is about experiencing every second,” Wilkinson said. “That is where my change has come. Look here [he sweeps his hand across the bay]. Why not enjoy all this? I know I have so much more to give, I never want to give up. There will be a time when, I know, but I am miles and miles away from that.”

He first visited Toulon a month ago, to look around, soak up the atmosphere and to confirm that he had made the right choice. “The passion for the sport is incredible,” he said. “People are generous and welcoming. They are also intensely fiery and you can feel the energy and feed from it.

“It is something that just speaks to you, an environment which can be a springboard to better yourself. I want to contribute in any way I can every single second to try and make a difference. The confidence Toulon have paid in me is tremendous and I want to make it known how much I appreciate what they have done.”

The reality of turning 30, an age that is supposed to signal the beginning of the end of a sporting career, has not fazed him. “I do feel like a new kid,” he said. “I turned 30, which is supposed to be that big milestone, but it’s not really. I do feel unbelievably good.

“It is 30, yes, but you are brand new every day. You wake up and the choice to reinvent yourself is there, to take new decisions, leave the past behind and open up a new future and that’s what this is. I have been trying for a long time to leave things behind me, injuries, a few elements of the [2003] World Cup that were placed on me at a young age and you perhaps want to break free from. Coming here is a good illustration of being able to wake up one day and follow a new direction. It is something I can’t wait to be involved in.”

He felt a flavour of what is to come when wandering around the port outside the stadium when Toulon played Perpignan. “You think you have seen it all in so many stadia around the world but you haven’t scratched the surface,” Wilkinson said. “There is something intensely unique about this place. I so want to contribute to the journey.”

Toulon were once a powerhouse of French rugby, much as Toulouse are now. They have won the French championship three times, the last in 1992, since when the famous “red and black” fell on hard times and almost disappeared before Mourad Boudjellal, the president and a born-and-bred Toulonnais, rode to the rescue, investing millions. The ground capacity is 14,000, with plans to increase that to 25,000. There are 10,000 season ticket-holders and a glimpse of what is possible was evident when Toulon switched their match against Toulouse to the Vélodrome in Marseilles, attracting a crowd of 58,000.

The town is a naval port, home of Charles de Gaulle, the aircraft carrier, and the French Mediterranean fleet. It was bombed by the Allies during the Second World War and it is where the French fleet was scuttled in 1942 on the orders of Winston Churchill. It is a place of faded glories that, like the rugby club with which its fortunes are so closely intertwined, is brushing itself down, smartening up its act and preparing to reassert itself.

“I love French rugby,” Wilkinson said. “Some of the scariest moments of my rugby life have been against France. It is that mystery, the unexplained, where you cannot fathom how they can go from a standing start to 100 miles an hour and all of a sudden you are under your own posts. England, New Zealand, Australia have all felt it. I have always wanted to know their secret. I hope now I am here I will.”

- The World Cup Sevens will be dropped if the sport gains entry to the Olympics in 2016, it was announced yesterday. The IRB said the Games would be the new pinnacle of the game, with the world series circuit acting as qualifying events. The seven sports vying for up to two places on the programme present to the International Olympic Committee next month. The executive board is expected to recommend two in August for approval by IOC members in October.