Jonny Wilkinson admitted his rugby instincts have been blunted by years on the treatment table and England manager Martin Johnson was right to drop him.
Toby Flood will start at first five-eighths against Grand Slam-chasing France on Saturday after Wilkinson was axed for only the third time in his international career.
Wilkinson has been a shadow of the player that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup and once struck fear into the hearts of all England's opponents.
The 30-year-old admitted he has been off the pace since returning to the England team last November after a year on the sidelines recovering from a serious knee injury.
"I feel I am short in terms finding the instinct again," said Wilkinson.
"I have to try to get those habits back. At the moment it is a real challenge to go out there and consider more things than I used to."
"I'm giving everything I can. I know I am trying the right things but I have to refine and reassess."
"I know I'm not playing the way I want to, but I know I can get there and I desire nothing more than to get there."
Wilkinson said there was 'no worse feeling' than to be dropped by England but he knows Johnson was right not to pick him.
Johnson has been guilty of ignoring Flood's impressive club form in recent weeks and the last thing Wilkinson wants is to be picked on reputation alone.
"I'm desperate to play as many times as I can for England but as long as it's right," said Wilkinson.
"I don't want to be playing for England if I'm not doing as good a job as someone else - if I'm not right to be there."
"What I don't want to be doing is not finding my best but just ticking boxes and saying, 'Yeah, that's great, I've got this many caps and this many points'. That won't help the team."
"You have to earn that right and I am in the process of doing that."
Johnson insisted Wilkinson remains central to his 2011 World Cup plans.
And Wilkinson himself will use this setback as motivation to rediscover the qualities that made him the best player in the world before his injury nightmare began.
"I am going to go back to Toulon to search for more from myself, search for better and work harder," he said.
"I will keep doing that until the day I finish and by doing that and searching for my best, I hope England will continue to be a part of my life down the road, until the last day."
"There is no worse feeling but every time it has happened, it is a springboard for where I go next."