Rookie is ready to face big threat of Saracens

Offered a two-year contract at Leeds Carnegie, the 19-year-old signing from Northampton Saints with no previous Premiership game time was immediately placed on a dual-registration contract with Yorkshire rivals Doncaster.

The second year of his deal would be when Leeds planned to see the best of this exciting but raw talent, after a year of hardening on the Championship battlegrounds.

However, Doncaster have seen nothing of the former Wales Under-18 international, as impact injuries to Leeds's first-choice No 10 Ceiron Thomas and stand-in Lachlan Mackay in the opening defeat against Bath have brought his Premiership education forward a year.

Thrust into a starting shirt at Gloucester last Saturday, Lewis-Pratt responded with a mature performance that made a mockery of his rookie status.

He scored one try – rounding off a super length-of-the-field drive by Leeds – had a hand in another and kicked a further 11 points.

With New Zealander Mackay another week away from fitness and Thomas rated only 50-50, Lewis-Pratt is poised to make his home debut against Saracens on Sunday.

His instant rise has been a pleasant surprise for director of rugby Andy Key, who is also relieved at how quickly the London-born teenager has plugged the gap created by Joe Ford's move to Northampton.

"It was a real disappointment to see Joe Ford go last year as we felt he could really develop in this environment, but as one door closes, another one opens," said Key.

"That door opened for Christian and we've been hugely impressed with the way he manages himself, the way he's trained and the competence he showed in the pre-season games.

"He's now gone and shown it on the big stage in an environment which is not the easist at Gloucester. He handled himself outstandingly well."

Saracens pose another daunting threat for a young man whose only experience prior to last Saturday was in A League and Academy fixtures.

Having shown potential, how he develops that over the coming weeks will be an interesting storyline to follow.

"Building on it is the difference between being a good player who can play in the Premiership and being an outstanding player," said Key, whose side sit bottom of the table after two defeats.

"It's the consistency week in, week out and being able

to adjust your game to the various styles of opponents that counts. That's the thing about the challenges you face in the Premiership, you don't have, as you do in the Super 14, a consistency in the style the teams all play.

"Here, there's a difference in the defensive systems and some of the attacking tactics and it's a very diverse league.

"It will be really interesting if he gets the chance this weekend to see how he gets on against Saracens.

"If he puts in a performance like last week, and a smidge better, we'll be massively chuffed with him."

If Lewis-Pratt can help Leeds claim a first victory of the season against the physicality and versatility of last season's Premiership finalists then Thomas might find himself on the bench when he returns from the stinger (nerve) injury that kept him out of the Gloucester game.

But it could be in the pack that Leeds build a platform for victory, much like they did when the sides last met at Headingley in March.

That day, Leeds dominated the ferocious Saracens forwards to set up a crucial victory, and Key believes the set-piece will again be vital as the hosts look to shore up a defence that has already leaked seven tries.

"They're a very physical side, very strong in the contact and they tend to play a very uncompromising game early on to see whether or not you succumb to their pressure," said Key, who hopes to have prop Juan Gomez in contention.

"In the likes of (Schalk) Brits, (Schalk) Burger, (Ernst) Joubert, they have physical forwards. We know what's coming and we're ready for that onslaught and we have to make sure we meet fire with fire. The best way of doing it is keeping hold of the ball and depriving them of it.

"Saracens also play very attractive attacking rugby but we believe there's some frailties, and we feel confident with our last two performances on our own patch with ball in hand that we have the ability to beat this side."