Giant Tongan Kiwi wing on England's side

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON (Reuters) - After seeing their World Cup ambitions destroyed by former All Black wing Jonah Lomu, England will take particular pleasure in including the latest "new Jonah" in their Six Nations squad.

Like the outstanding player at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, Lesley Vainikolo is a giant wing of Tongan/New Zealand descent who made his name in rugby league before switching to union at the start of this season with Gloucester.

Any question marks disappeared within his first 80 minutes last September, two days after England were thumped 36-0 by South Africa in the World Cup, as he racked up five tries to announce the crossover of "The Volcano" in the most emphatic way possible.

After just eight more games coach Brian Ashton had seen enough to include the 28-year-old in his Six Nations squad, for which he qualifies by residency having moved to England six years ago to play league for Bradford.

"I first saw him about five years ago playing rugby league and there was a bit of a wow factor then," Ashton said on Wednesday when revealing his 32-man group.

"When he switched it was interesting to see if he would take time to adjust. It's not quite been a seamless conversion but not far off as he's played union as a youngster. He's been a seriously good addition to the Gloucester team."

Asked exactly what Vainikolo would bring to an England squad not short of quality on the wings, Ashton waxed in unusually lyrical terms.

"He's different, we've never seen an England winger like him that's for sure. He's got an X-factor and players with an X-factor in the international game are pretty important," he said.