Jones ready to run into England reckoning

Faces to follow in 2003: Sale rugby union lock has the skill, speed and stealth to force his way into the national side

Chris Jones did not land in the public consciousness with a thump –his emergence on to the rugby scene with Sale Sharks was more of a parachute drop – but, having hit the ground, he has not stopped running.

Which is unusual since he is a second row specialist, the traditional stable for the "donkeys" of rugby sides in the past. Jones, however, bears little resemblance to many of those who have filled that position in the past and many observers believe it will not be long before this 6ft 6in, 15 stone athlete is playing before a wider audience as a member of Clive Woodward's England team.

Jones slipped into the Sale side last season, ahead of schedule as it turns out, because the original plan had been to get him to bulk up a little before throwing him in with the big boys.

So good, however, was the 21-year-old that within a couple of matches as a bench man he had won himself a regular slot in the first team all the way up to, and including, Sale's triumph in the 2002 Parker Pen Shield final at Oxford's Kassam Stadium.

"That has to be my most memorable match to date," says Jones, who despite his surname has not a drop of Welsh blood coursing through his veins. "Although, Leicester earlier this season was also quite good." Quite good? He scored a try that had pundits, critics and coaches raving about the Jones boy. "A revelation..." wrote one; he "turned the game on its head..." wrote another. It was, according to one veteran observer, "a wonder... try".

Jim Mallinder, Sale's director of rugby and someone not given to lavishing praise on individuals, said: "No other lock could have scored that try. To gather the ball at all was something. Then he got his crazy legs going in open country and that was that. He is an athlete with a massive engine." But he does not just run. Jones has great hands – "I am working hard on my handling skills," he says – holds his own at the line-out, spoils regularly on the opposition throw and shoves his weight in the set piece, not to mention putting in his fair share of tackles.

"I like to think I can bring something different to the second row. I know that my weight, 15 stone, is considered quite light, and that most locks are big fellows, but my lack of weight means I bring more mobility to the position." That was not the way Mallinder had seen it originally. He was not really convinced that Jones was ready for the big time when he finally thrust the youngster into the ring as a replacement against Northampton last February.

"Until then Jim [Mallinder] and Steve [Diamond, the team manager] had said they wanted me to get used to professional rugby, but they wanted to get me a bit tougher, put on a few more pounds of muscle before picking me in the team.

"I was at Sheffield Hallam University doing a degree in business studies and, apart from playing at the university, up to then my only truly competitive experience was at Fylde in National Division Two, where I was a contracted player.

"That was a useful time for me, though. I feel I learned a lot because I was playing with a former Sale man, Dave Baldwin." At Fylde he found himself on the flank so it was less of a surprise, during the opening salvos of this year's Heineken European Cup, to discover his name in the back row once again, but this time at No 8.

"I enjoy playing in the second row," he admits, "but in the back row, and at No 8, you can run around more, you have a bit more freedom. As a lock I find that a lot of the time I am tied up in scrums and line-outs. But with the experience I have been getting recently I feel I could fill in in either position, although I know I have a lot more to learn about back row play. But it is nice to fit in in a variety of positions."

He is clearly a closet No 8 if the description of that try against Leicester is anything to go by. He galloped fully 50 metres, holding his own against the very swift Austin Healey, who caught the lanky loper just short of the line. Fortunately Jones had more than enough reach to be able to ground the ball.

His speed is breathtaking, especially when he gets a start. "I am not a Jason Robinson," he says, "I am no sprinter. I am better at the 400 metres, I need to get into my stride." But he is not really conscious of being a bit special and being able to turn it on at a moment's notice. "Generally if I see a gap I go for it and hope I don't get caught." He does not get caught that often, but he would be happy if the England selectors managed to catch him.

That try against the Tigers, his fifth for the club since he opened his account against Bristol last season, was scored under the interested and watchful gaze of England head coach Woodward and Jones has since attended England squad training sessions as part of the Academy.

"Going there is just to get me more used to the set-up, see how things are run and to get an appreciation of the intensity of the training sessions," he explains. Before long, injury permitting, an army of England fans should be able to see how well the Jones boy does when sporting the red rose, because it is only a matter of time before he gallops into the England squad.