Tait settling down for life of Brian

MATHEW TAIT is determined to make up for lost time and prove he can be England’s answer to Brian O’Driscoll.

The 24-year-old does not have a history of making bold statements and even this one was whispered almost shyly in a corridor at the England team hotel.

But with Ireland and O’Driscoll – the finest player of his generation – due at Twickenham this weekend, Tait knows the time has come to speak up.

The majority of Tait’s England career has been spent as a “jack of all trades” – 17 of his 34 caps have been from the bench – and he regrets not demanding earlier to be considered as an outside centre.

The ‘utility man’ tag meant Tait did not start a Test in his favoured position between the 2007 Rugby World Cup final and England’s opening game of this RBS 6 Nations championship.

But he knows there is no better chance to nail down the position long term than to perform well against O’Driscoll.

“This is the position I feel the most comfortable in. I have played the majority of my rugby there and I need to justify my selection,” said Tait.

“Jason Robinson (Sale coach) has been a big help for me this year in giving me the confidence to go out there and do my thing.

“I probably should have said I wanted to stick to one position. In the World Cup final I played the second half at fullback and it went reasonably well – but I should have been stronger about where I want to play.

“As a young guy you just want to play for your country. It is a personality thing as well. I am a reasonably quiet guy and looking back I was just happy to be involved.

“The ability to cover a few positions has probably stood me in good stead over the years in terms of being involved in the squads – but not in starting games and as you move on you want to nail down a position.

“I play the game to test myself against the top players and O’Driscoll certainly is that. He is a guy I grew up watching. He has been one of the top players, top centres in world rugby.

“I am pleased to be in the mix and fingers crossed this weekend goes alright and I will be for a long time.”

Tait has made his mark on both England’s victories so far – creating a try against Wales and scoring a try against Italy – but he wants to sustain that impact, to mirror O’Driscoll’s desire to go hunting for the ball.

“I am relatively pleased how those game have gone but I want to get my hands on the ball a bit more. That has been quite frustrating,” said Tait.

“It is up to me to work hard and put myself into positions where I can.”

Tait urged England to loosen the shackles and hit the Irish, who could be wobbly after a comprehensive defeat to France in Paris, with a dynamic, attacking game-plan.

All the talk in the build-up to the tournament was of England’s new-found attacking freedom – but there was little of it on show against Italy.

England were far too conservative, engaging in long kicking exchanges despite clear signs Italy could not cope with a high-tempo running game.

Tait’s try, created by Ugo Monye and Delon Armitage was the only time England capitalised on that attacking superiority and it proved to be the difference in a 17-12 win.

“The whole group wants to go out and play attacking rugby but we have to make sure we do it at the right time,” said Tait.

“The coaches are giving us the freedom to go out and do what we want.

“Last week there was too much kicking. That doesn’t mean we will be crazy and throw it around when it is not on but we all want to play an attacking brand of rugby.”