Christian Wade rocketed up the British & Irish Lions wing rankings as he scorched his way to two superb first half tries in front of head coach Warren Gatland in the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final at Adams Park.
The electric London Wasps wing terrorised the Leinster back line in a blistering first-half performance that saw him leave the visiting defenders clutching at thin air after only three minutes.
Not content with that he then blazed past Irish centre Fergus McFadden, stood up Ireland and Lions full back Rob Kearney and breezed past him on the outside for try number two.
Those two moments alone could have been enough to convince Gatland to take a punt on the talented, uncapped 21-year-old when he announces his Lions party at the end of the month. If he doesn’t take him to Australia, then the man who sat alongside him during the match, England head coach Stuart Lancaster, will surely blood him on tour in Argentina.
And Wasps director of rugby Dai Young, although disappointed to have seen his side lose out in the quarter-finals for the second year in a row, was delighted at the performance of his young wing.
“I’m not sure which tour he will be going on this summer, but he won’t be sitting at home on holiday. He’ll be wearing either the white of England or the red of the Lions,” said Young, who saw his side lose 48-28 in a nine try thriller.
“He won’t let anybody down whoever picks him. As regards attacking and finishing ability he’s got to be up there with the best of them. He showed that against very good opposition tonight.
“He has got electric feet and he can make space where you don’t think there is any. There is no doubting he has a massive future and he will play at the top level of the game for a long time.
“He has a massive future and he is going to play at the top end of the game for a long time. He gets excited by and very few times does he have a bad game.
“He isn’t afraid to play against players or teams of reputation and those people who see us play regularly will know that this performance wasn’t a one off – they know what sort of threat he is.”
Man of the match Gordon D'Arcy, a double Lions tourist, was full of admiration for Wade's performance and marked him out as a difficult player to play against.
"You do your homework on players and visualise what it is going to be like defending against them, but you can’t buy pace and he just has it in bundles. He stands you up and looks to go around you and if you get your feet caught you are dead in the water," he said.
