Young Gun: Tom Fowlie – London Irish centre

England's new elite squad may have a glaring dearth of outside centres, but thanks to London Irish's Tom Fowlie, the future outlook may not be quite so bleak.
Fowlie may be just 18 but at 6ft plus and 100kg (15st 7lbs), Irish director of rugby Brian Smith has earmarked the young centre as someone ready to step up to the seniors.
New academy boss Peter Richards has gone even further and believes that Fowlie will win a hatful of senior England caps – some claim as Fowlie is yet to make his Irish debut.
However, he has already flourished in England colours  – he first caught the eye with two tries against Scotland for the U18s earlier this year and  followed that by helping the Red Rose to victory in the FIRA /AER European Championship beating France in the final.
Now he is part of the England U18 squad heading to South Africa.
“They're going to be big boys out there, that we can pretty much assume, but we don't want to think about them, we want to concentrate on ourselves,” said Fowlie.
“It will be a step up physically but we're ready for it. We've had a good year, we head there as European champions which gives us confidence, we play France out there as well and that will be an interesting rematch after the final.
“It's largely the same group who were in France for the European Championship and that means we're already a tight bunch.
“Just being part of the England set-up at the moment gives you a lot of confidence. You look at the seniors and how well they're doing and how a lot of them are pretty young and then how well the U20s did over the summer and you want to repeat their success.”
“Physically able to handle himself” in the words of Smith, Fowlie was a regular fixture in the A League last term and the LV= Cup would seem the obvious avenue into the first team this season.
At Irish, he knows he won't have to wait long for his chance – Anthony Watson, who joined Bath over the summer, was given his Premiership debut at 17 while Marland Yarde is a key first-team player at 21.
With Jonathan Joseph dropped to the Saxons squad, Manu Tuilagi is the only recognised outside centre in England's squad.
And while Joseph will hope to reignite his career at Bath, Fowlie is already receiving high praise at the Madejski Stadium.
“It's a great club to be part of, the coaches are always keeping me updated on how they think I'm progressing and it's a club that has always given youngsters a chance,” he added.
“The A League has been a great competition for me and I'll be looking to try and get my chance in the LV= Cup and maybe in the Premiership if there are a few injuries.
“You only have to look at the list of players that have gone on from Irish to play for England in recent years to see that this is a great club to be a young player at.”
While his pace and size set him apart, so does his temperament according to those close to him – level-headed is a phrase that constantly recurs.
“I'm really not too bothered where I play to be honest, I don't really have a preferred position,” he added.
“I think in the future, 13 is a position that I'd like to play but, for now, I'm happy on the wing. I appreciate that is probably where my chance will come.”