England debut trio take different routes to top
Three men will pull on an England senior shirt for the first time and walk out proudly together to face Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday but the routes they have taken to get there could not have been more different.
Twenty-year-old tyro Owen Farrell, South Africa-born Brad Barritt and 30-year-old No 8 Phil Dowson were the headline-makers when interim coach Stuart Lancaster stayed true to his word on Thursday, with five more uncapped players included among the replacements.
Farrell, outstanding for Saracens this season, will start at inside centre and if he performs as nervelessly in the Six Nations opener as he did in front of the media pack on Thursday then England might well have solved the number 12 problem which has dogged them since Will Greenwood retired.
Farrell was always destined to play international rugby from the moment his toddler hands began swapping passes with his father Andy, a dual-code international and now England assistant coach.
His formative years were spent in Wigan as Andy led the town's league team to 13-man glory but once he too switched codes he represented England at every junior level.
His calm game management at Saracens and ice-cool nerve, notably on show when his goalkicking helped them win last year's Premiership final, belie his tender years and he expects to remain as grounded in the cauldron of an evening Calcutta Cup clash with an atmosphere fuelled by a day's Edinburgh drinking.
"I've kicked in front of 82 000 at Twickenham, it doesn't change for me," he told reporters. "The build-up to it may be a bit different, the atmosphere is exciting at the beginning and you notice at the end but it's just a game and in between you have a job to do. Once you cross that white line you focus on your job.
"I'm excited, as anyone would be, and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. I'm looking forward to the atmosphere, looking to enjoy it and hopefully thrive off it."
GENUINELY BEMUSED
Looking even younger than his 20 years, Farrell seemed genuinely bemused by the barrage of questions about how he would handle the big day.
"I'll walk out there with a huge smile on my face," he said. "It's what you play rugby for, to enjoy those moments. But then it's game time."
If Farrell always expected this day to come, Dowson thought his chance had gone when his 30th birthday slipped by on the day England last played Scotland in the World Cup last October.
He made his debut for the second-string England Saxons team back in 2005 and helped the Sevens team win the World Cup but despite regularly making training squads he could not break into the senior team.
Now, under new management, he has got his reward for a career of consistently impressive back row displays for Newcastle and then Northampton
"I've always tried to get here but there's always been a huge amount of talent in the back-row so its been tough," Dowson said. "I've tried to use the experience of not being picked as motivation to get here. And it's finally paid off. I want to make sure I seize that opportunity and relish it.
"When I was younger I used to get excited about the squads being announced and I'd find out when it was, but as I've matured, it's been less a deadline day.
"Having said that, the World Cup was a huge disappointment. I was in and out the squad last year so to not be in the World Cup training squad was very disappointing, especially after the Heineken Cup final.
"But the advice I was getting from family, friends and coaches was 'keeping trying your hardest, keep knocking on the door and hopefully it will open' and now it has."
Barritt, who will play alongside Saracens teammate Farrell at outside centre, also dreamed of pulling on an international jersey but, after representing the Emerging Springboks, it was the dark green of South Africa that got his blood pumping.
Though he was born in Durban after his parents moved from Zimbabwe, Barritt does have strong English roots through his grandparents and England's latest Commonwealth convert says he will be as proud as anyone wearing the red rose.
"This week has been brilliant and as a team it is a new, fresh outlook," said Barritt, whose fellow-South African born Saracens teammate Mouritz Botha will make his first England start on Saturday.
"To pull on a test jersey is the ultimate for a player and it will be an immensely proud moment for me and my family to represent England."