Topsy Ojo was born and brought up in Tottenham, and in his youth would have preferred to shine at football, but on Sunday he will complete a remarkable rugby journey when he lines up as the only uncapped member of England's back division against the Barbarians at Twickenham.
The 22-year-old wing, who will also be on England's tour to New Zealand next month, was called into the squad in South Africa last summer, but he made his name in last month's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Toulouse at Twickenham when he scored a try out of nothing, using searing pace to get away from one defender while seeing off another with a deft change of direction.
He was a constant threat that afternoon, along with his colleague on the left wing, Sailosi Tagicakibau. Remarkably, it was only Ojo's second try of the season, but he followed it up with touchdowns in his following two matches.
"It has not been my best campaign in terms of try scoring, but I have been happy with my form," he said. "If someone had told me back in September that I would be playing for England against the Barbarians and then going on the tour to New Zealand, I would not have believed them. My aim was to be involved with the Saxons in the Churchill Cup and take things from there.
"It shows how London Irish have progressed as a club and the style of rugby we are playing. We have a number of big characters in the back line and I think I work well in partnership with Sailosi. We both like to come infield looking for the ball and often appear on each other's wing. I have played in the Premiership for three seasons and have started being more of a leader. I cannot wait for the game against the Barbarians to start."
Ojo first started playing rugby when he was 11. "I went to Dartford grammar school and rugby was the main sport there," he said. "At the time, I would have preferred to play football." He went on to captain the first XV and appeared for Kent and London and South-East Schools at Under-16 and Under-18 level before joining Irish's academy in 2003 and being capped by England Under-19s and Under-21s.
He is one of three uncapped London Irish players in England's team, along with the Australia-born hooker David Paice and the second-row Nick Kennedy, and the club's connections with the national side may increase, with the Exiles' director of rugby, Brian Smith, linked with the position of attack coach.
The Rugby Football Union's approach to the Australian Smith earlier this month was rebuffed by Irish, who criticised the governing body for approaching someone who had a year to run on his contract without permission, but the position has since been advertised and there is nothing to stop Smith from applying.
"Brian would be great for England and he has had a big influence on my career," said Ojo. "He, along with Mike Catt and Toby Booth at London Irish, has changed the way I play the game. He has shown me that playing on the wing does not mean waiting for the ball to come to you and he encourages us to read what is going on and play as we see it. My game has developed considerably in the last couple of years and I now feel a more complete player, in attack and defence. I was not getting involved before as I should have.
"I know Brian is ambitious to coach at international level, but from London Irish's perspective, he would be a big loss. He has done so much for the club, taking us from a side which seemed to be perpetually fighting against relegation to one which came within a whisker of making a Heineken Cup semi-final last month. When I joined the club [in 2003], I did not believe we were capable of playing at that level. Now it is a question of doing it consistently and that is down to Brian and the coaching team he has assembled. He has been fantastic for us"
Another England Under-19 international, the Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley, will be on the bench on Sunday, one year after he was banned from the game for six months after being found guilty of eye-gouging offences against Wasps. The 22-year old, who was born in Rotorua and moved to England when he was 16, had been tipped to make England's World Cup squad, but was left to reflect on a career which had reached a crossroads shortly after he had set out on it.
"I was a loose cannon," said the 22-year old Hartley. "Playing in the first division for Northampton this season gave me the chance to get my head down and sort out a few issues I had. I am better now for what happened then: it could have marked the end of my career, but I took it as a kick up the arse and sorted myself out. I know opponents will be coming for me, but I am now aware how to deal with that."
Hartley has worked with Steve Peters, a forensic psychiatrist, to ensure his natural energy and aggression are harnessed properly. "He has given me a clear match gameplan," said Hartley. "I used to be so relaxed before matches that I had to wind myself up, but what he taught me to do was to think with the logical part of my head, and channel my energy so I still tackle and run with the same drive that I used to put into trying to annoy someone."
Hartley, who helped Northampton win every game in National League One to ensure their return to the Premiership this season, will be returning to New Zealand next month, where his parents still live, six years after emigrating.
"I came over for a gap year and lived with an uncle," he said. "It was never my intention to make the move permanent, but I ended up playing rugby and staying. I never thought I would be good enough to make a career of the game and here I am contemplating a Test series against the All Blacks."
