English prodigy to take centre stage right from the kickoff

Eighteen-year-old Mathew passes the ball during a training session last month. Picture / Reuters

Jonny Wilkinson had been on this earth precisely 18 years and 314 days when he made his debut for England in a Five Nations championship match with Ireland at Twickenham in 1998, becoming the youngest red-rose international since Colin Laird pulled on the white shirt in 1927.

But Wilkinson marched into the wider public consciousness via the replacements' bench.

When Mathew Tait, another 18-year-old midfielder from Newcastle, mixes it with the Welsh at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday, he will do it right from the kickoff.

If the young centre, who has played all of 11 Premiership games for his club, survives the hellfire and brimstone treatment he must be expecting from the Red Dragonhood and helps England to victory in Cardiff, he will celebrate every minute of his 19th birthday, the next day, as if it is his last.

Rumour had been rife for more than a week that Tait would play - not just because long-term injuries affecting Mike Tindall, Will Greenwood and Stuart Abbott had left England coach Andy Robinson virtually bereft of centres, but also because the teenager had performed at close to test pitch in high-profile games against the likes of Sale and Perpignan.

Robinson duly confirmed the street-talk in his explanatory remarks. "I've never been afraid to select young talented players if I feel they are ready," the former Bath flanker said, "and Mathew has demonstrated to me that he has the form and speed to earn his place in the starting XV."

Robinson went on to suggest that the presence of Newcastle's other first-choice centre, Jamie Noon, in the No 12 position should, in theory at least, ease Tait's passage into international rugby - a theory under which the Welsh will try to plant as many incendiary devices as they can lay their hands on. In a way, Noon's selection is more surprising than that of his prodigy of a clubmate. He is tough, for sure; badly dented by the hard-heads of Perpignan in the Heineken Cup and injured during Newcastle's defeat at Saracens last week, his powers of recovery reinforce his reputation as one of the Premiership's more resilient types.

But he is not noted for his kicking game and his distributive skills are nowhere near as subtle as those of Olly Barkley or Henry Paul, the men he beat to a starting place for this weekend's Six Nations opener.

Not that Rob Andrew, the director of rugby at Newcastle, was in any mood to question the whys and wherefores of Noon's promotion.

"Jamie has been rewarded for his performances for us, which have been consistently superb, and I have no doubt he has what it takes to take his form on to the international stage," Andrew said.

He was equally joyful for Tait, although his words were more guarded.

"Let's not forget that this time last season, he was still playing schoolboy rugby at Barnard Castle," he pointed out. "He must be allowed time to develop at the highest level."

Robinson has made seven changes, two of them positional, to the side that surrendered the Cook Cup to the touring Wallabies at Twickenham last November. Besides the new centres, who take over from the stricken Tindall and the marginalised Paul, there is a first Six Nations start for Andy Hazell, of Gloucester, on the openside flank, recalls for the Wasps halfback Matt Dawson and the Leicester lock Ben Kay, and backrow shifts for Lewis Moody, who moves from the breakaway position to the blindside, and Joe Worsley, who moves from short side to No 8.

Dawson, 65 caps into his England career, returns after an embarrassing public spat with Robinson over television commitments, which he placed ahead of squad training.

Harry Ellis, in robust mood for Leicester these past few weeks, gets the bench place ahead of Andy Gomarsall, of Gloucester.

Kay, meanwhile, can count himself fortunate to reclaim the middle jumper's place from Steve Borthwick, of Bath, who has been in prime form of late. Borthwick will be among the replacements, along with Phil Vickery, the World Cup-winning tighthead prop, and one of Vickery's colleagues at Gloucester, the unorthodox No 8 James Forrester.

Forrester, selected ahead of the more forceful Hugh Vyvyan, of Saracens, is a game-breaking forward if ever there was one, blessed as he is with blinding pace and ball skills to die for.

This is a high-risk team, but potentially one that offers high rewards.

This Weekend

Sunday: France v Scotland, Paris 2am

Wales v England, Cardiff 5.30am

Monday: Italy v Ireland, Rome 2.30am

- INDEPENDENT