Rugby World Cup: Magical May’s X-factor puts him in place for Fiji opener

May is rapidly emerging as Stuart Lancaster’s most potent strike weapon after his well-taken opener in Saturday’s 21-13 victory over Ireland at Twickenham improved his record to five tries in nine matches.

The Gloucester wing would have claimed a second but for a forward pass from Youngs and, after a year spent slipping in and out of the team, he is all but assured of a start in the World Cup opener against Fiji on September 18.

While Youngs paints a picture of a quirky character off the pitch, he can only admire the pace, footwork and athleticism of his team-mate when he has the ball in his hands.

“Jonny is a space cadet. He makes me laugh. He doesn’t read situations very well socially so he can be quite amusing sometimes,” said Youngs.

“We have to tell him: ‘Jonny, you can’t really say that’.

“He was ringing my brother’s doorbell on Friday and Ben opened the door. ‘Oh, you’re not George Ford’, Jonny said.

“‘No’, said my brother, ‘but cheers for waking up my little boy’. That’s Jonny. He wouldn’t even think about it.

“He’s a good bloke and was outstanding against Ireland. He has trained superbly well. He’s been the stand-out guy in training.

“He did some freakish stuff against Ireland, stepping people and going through them. Only Jonny can do that. He can produce something out of nothing – there is that X-factor about him.”

May scorched through New Zealand’s midfield last autumn for his first international try and that solo score – among the finest witnessed at Twickenham – was one of the images that inspired the 25-year-old against Ireland.

“In the changing room before the game they were playing these highlight reels for each member of the squad,” said May.

“Mine had me scoring against the All Blacks, the tries against Samoa and the one against France last month.

“They are very precious memories for me and I was like, ‘I want to go out there and create some more’. I felt proud to do that. It is a great feeling.”

Pace remains May’s greatest asset but he has also added muscle to his frame during the summer training camp and the benefit was evident at Twickenham when he bumped off Tommy Bowe en route to scoring his try.

“My 10 metres is as good as it’s been and I’ve put on some muscle mass. It’s been great to have this block of training,” added May, who works with sprint coach Marlon Devonish at Gloucester.

“In previous summers I had tours to South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand. You don’t get a pre-season – you are rolling one season on to another.

“Marlon has taught me to relax my face. He’s got loads of useful tips: sweet spot on the foot, driving straight. All rugby players run quite tight up top.”

The performances of May and Watson against France and Ireland can only have edged them past Jack Nowell in the race for the two wing spots against Fiji.

And Lancaster has the next 10 days to decide any outstanding issues in the second and back rows, although Geoff Parling, Ben Morgan and Tom Wood caught the head coach’s eye against Joe Schmidt’s RBS 6 Nations champions.

Parling’s return at lock improved the line-out, although issues remain, No 8 Morgan came through another game after seven months out with a broken leg and Wood was named man of the match, in the process doing enough to shade James Haskell at blindside flanker.

“I thought Ben Morgan was excellent. Billy Vunipola was disappointed with his performance against France,” said Lancaster.

“But I thought he had a positive impact when he came on.

“Ben’s such a smart rugby player.

“It’s a good position to be in to have two No8s.

“I can see it going one way and changing the next.

“Tom gave a the man-of-the-match performance and that echoes what he’s done in the camp. His leadership and decision-making were excellent.

“Geoff Parling was excellent too before he came off. I think there’s a lesson in there about intelligent rugby players on the field.”