Rugby Union: England's quickest learner

Woodward turns to a wide-boy to put the heat on this summer as yesterday's hero enjoys his day in the sun: Tim Glover meets the Richmond flyer who has been put on the fast track

IT IS possible that when England reach Auckland on their all- inclusive tour of the Southern Hemisphere, Dominic Chapman will come up against the Moby Dick of wing threequarters, Jonah Lomu. Dominic and the whale could be one of the tales of the summer.

"He's pretty good," Chapman said of the man who engulfed England in the last World Cup with four tries and ended up slamming a pizza in Tony Underwood's face. "I'm not in awe of anybody," Chapman added. "I don't think anyone can run around me. I'm quite comfortable in giving wings the outside and cutting them down."

It's not that Chapman is over-confident, he isn't, it's just that at the age of 22 he doesn't know any better. Chapman is quick but his promotion to the England party has been even quicker. In his first full season in the Premiership, he is the country's leading try-scorer with 31.

A lot of them have been scored through sheer pace and from all manner of distances. Given the sniff of an overlap it's odds-on that Chapman will score. His move to the fast lane was helped in part by the fact that his grandparents are Irish. When Brian Ashton, the then Ireland coach, showed an interest, it prompted England to elevate Chapman to the A team.

With his options limited because of injuries and withdrawals, Clive Woodward, the England coach, is taking 17 uncapped players to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Chapman is one of four fledgling wings. The others are his Richmond team-mate Spencer Brown and the Sale pair, Tom Beim and Matt Moore. Today they face each other when Sale entertain Richmond.

Chapman, who looks like one of those fresh-faced apprentice jockeys, can remember his exploits with Esher and Surrey Colts as if it was yesterday, which it almost was. While Tony Underwood was trying to mark Lomu in the semi-final of the 1995 World Cup, Chapman was helping Surrey win the colts county championship.

Chapman, the son of a merchant banker, began playing mini-rugby at Esher. "It became apparent that I was quicker than most of the other lads," Chapman said. He was not exactly being groomed for Twickenham. He was a national Under-12 high-jump champion before deserting rugby for two years as a goalscorer with Surbiton Griffin FC. He returned to Esher when he was 16 and two years ago Simon Halliday, the former England centre who coaches the Surrey junior club, recommended him to Harlequins. It was not a good move. "I never felt part of it," Chapman said. "I had no contract and I was open to offers."

Quins had a scholarship arrangement with the University of Surrey in Guildford which resulted in Chapman enrolling for a course in Russian. He could just about get his tongue around Boris Yeltsin when he dropped out of the class. "I didn't know what I was doing. A lot of the students were European and when they were stringing words together I hadn't even learnt the Russian alphabet."

It wasn't a complete waste of time. At the university he met Margot Wells, wife of the Olympic sprinter Allan, and he and the Quins wing Dan Luger employ her for specialist training. "I'm trying to put on weight to gain strength and get quicker," Chapman, who weighs 12 stone, said. John Kingston, the Richmond coach, got Chapman at the beginning of the season for a modest contract. It was an astute signing for not only is Chapman a great finisher but a player who, having put bums on seats, gets them to their feet.

The Lions centre Allan Bateman and the Australian full-back Matt Pini have been particularly adept at exploiting the pace of Chapman and Brown. "They have both been brilliant," Chapman said, "not so much by what they say as what they do. At the beginning of the season I hadn't played much rugby at this level and I have learnt so much from them."

Tim Exeter, the Richmond fitness coach, reckons that Bateman and Brown are faster over 10 and 20 yards than Chapman. Exeter also rates Brown higher in agility tests. Perhaps this is not surprising. For one thing, the 24-year-old Brown, who is almost a neighbour of Chapman's in Kingston, is a Royal Marine. Based at Kensington, he plays the French horn in the Royal Marines band, and when he returns from England's tour will perform at the Royal Show in Earl's Court. For another, Chapman had pelvic trouble last year which may or may not have something to do with the fact that he has one leg shorter than the other.

The selection of Chapman and Brown and the other new buds of the rose has prompted the Australian Rugby Union to accuse the RFU of the "biggest sell-out since Gallipoli", with the promise of a "pommy-thrashing". "The players chosen are in form," Chapman said. "I think we'll be all right. We may surprise them."

A criticism of Chapman is that when he hares down the left wing like a greyhound out of the traps, he tucks the ball under his right arm, which means he is not in a position to ward off a tackler or pass to a team- mate. "I realise that in terms of development I've got a long way to go and a lot to learn," he said. "My first instinct is to beat a man on the outside and I have got to become more unpredictable. I am by no means the finished product."

Pace is one thing Chapman does not lack. "You can never be fast enough," he said. Especially when playing against Jonah Lomu.