Noah Caluori is a try-scoring freak – England should take him on summer tour

“What’s going to stop him? He’s a great kid who wants to do well and he will work really hard. The possibilities are so exciting for Saracens but exciting for England as well.”

Just three short weeks ago, Caluori was lining up on loan for Ampthill in the Champ; it is far from inconceivable that he will end this season as a full England international. That sort of rise would mirror that of Henry Pollock, although there is a chance that the wing is on a quicker development curve. The temptation for Steve Borthwick, Conor O’Shea and the rest of the performance hierarchy at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) might be to push the brakes, with a World Rugby Junior World Championship running concurrently with the start of England’s Nations Championship campaign in early July. But the prudent move may well be to fast-track Caluori’s development; already a Prem Rugby regular, there are other outside backs at Under 20 level who it may serve better to be given a tournament experience.

The evidence, increasingly, is that Caluori could add value for England. Borthwick gave the 19-year-old a taste of a Test environment in November shortly after that first Sale star-turn, in part to cosplay as Australia’s Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, and the gruelling travel itinerary this summer may necessitate an inflated squad for the fixture against Fiji particularly. If Tommy Freeman is to be looked at, increasingly, at outside centre - and it is this writer’s view that that is a switch worth persisting with - then there is potentially a wing spot opposite of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso up for grabs.

One should not discount Roebuck, who grew into the Six Nations after an injury-afflicted build-up, or Cadan Murley from the conversation, but Caluori perhaps offers the greatest ceiling. His explosiveness, evident in a rugby league-style finish at Sale, is a point of difference, and England are again in a phase of rebuilding after four successive defeats. If there will be mistakes along the way, as is true of any young player, the best sides in the world are generally favouring high-ceiling athletes out wide.

Noah Caluori acrobatically scores one of his five tries for Saracens against Sale (Getty)

History shows, too, that callowness need not be a disqualifying factor when it comes to wings at World Cups. Nehe Milner-Skudder (New Zealand in 2015) and Kurt-Lee Arendse (South Africa in 2023) are two recent examples of wings who entered the tournament with low cap counts and provided significant impacts for winning sides; Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe had just 18 international appearances between them before helping the Springboks to victory in Japan in 2019. It may be worth an early look to see if Caluori can propel England to new heights.

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This was, in truth, a good weekend for those who oppose the ring-fencing of the Gallagher Prem, with the four sides with little left to play for thrashed in a series of lop-sided scorelines. Sale’s collapse to an 85-19 defeat was the most striking of these, but Harlequins (48-15 at Bath), Newcastle (62-3 at Leicester) and Gloucester (53-12 at Bristol) did not fare much better on the road. While the play-off race could yet be fascinating, it seems frankly silly that one of Quins and Gloucester will be playing in the Champions Cup next season given the state of their campaigns; their squabble for eighth is a sad indictment.

Sale were on the receiving end of a thrashing from Saracens (Getty)

There is belief internally at the Prem that this is the exception, rather than the rule. It has been a rarity in recent years for the potential play-off hopefuls to narrow so early, and the introduction of a minimum salary spend floor and looming expansion of the league may guard against this sort of dramatic divide in the future. Besides, it is not long since injury-hit Harlequins beat a top-four chasing Bristol, and the investor confidence in the new-look league has been indicated again by the takeover of Exeter by the billionaire owners of Premier League side Bournemouth. It is a more complex debate than some would like to suggest.