Cadan Murley was picked for England for the first time then insisted his telepathic relationship with best mate Marcus Smith can get them on the Six Nations try trial.
The Harlequins wing will make his international debut against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday after being in nine England training camps without getting a game – until now.
The 25-year-old, Premiership top try scorer in 2022-23, has had the knockbacks of being surplus to requirements for three years since first being called up by Eddie Jones in 2022 and has now broken the glass ceiling.
Murley has been playing with Smith since a Harlequins academy side played in a Bristol tournament when the pair were teenagers.
They shared a house until recently and been playing at Quins at various levels for the past eight years and won the title together in 2021.
And the 25-year-old says those ties will help him get through his Test baptism of fire against the Irish who are chasing a record third Six Nations trophy on the spin.
Murley said: “We played England under-17s together and lived together for almost four years.
“The first time I remember seeing him, this little Filipino kid with unbelievable footwork putting people through holes I was thinking ‘he is going to be pretty good’ and he was. I thought follow him around and you are probably going to get on the end of something as a winger and that is hopefully what I will be doing this weekend.
“I know his tells. I have got a good understanding of him and he has got a good understanding of me. He just knows where I am going to be, he doesn’t have to look sometimes.”
Head coach Steve Borthwick added: “He’s got an excellent relationship with Marcus. I think they have got a great sense of where they are on the pitch together and what opportunities they are looking for. His pace and ability to beat people is tremendous.”
Murley’s phone was red hot in Girona yesterday when news of his selection was made public but one of the first messages came from a former teacher at Bishops Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury.
He added: “There was one from old schoolteacher who said ‘you are the first full England international since Richard Hill MBE’. I didn’t realise I was the first one since him.” Hill, the World Cup winner is now England’s team manager with Murley saying ‘they hold in very high regard at that school.”
Murley’s achievement at overcoming rejection by national coaches to win his first cap is magnified by the horrific run of injuries he has got over.
The wing has suffered knee, ankle and two hamstring injuries in the last two years and even had to adapt his running style to prevent further problems.
He has worked with Harlequins speed coach James Wild in ironing out kinks in his technique to keep him fit and recently clocked a personal best of 10.3 metres per second.
“They film it on these super slow-mo cameras and it is only a very slight thing but when you are running at such a speed these very slight movements can put a strain on muscles,” he said. “For mine, it was to do with my acceleration, my leg fold and my leg speed going over that. It has been a very slight adjustment which has probably made me more efficient in my running.”
