Sam Tomkins was a face in the crowd at the Wigan St Patricks amateur club gathered around the television to watch England's record 52-4 World Cup pasting by Australia in Melbourne. A year on, Tomkins, 20, is the great new hope for a youthful England facing the Kangaroos in Wigan, the latest "St Pats" old boy to roll off the international production line.

"He still spends a lot of time down here and helps out with the under-18s," Bill Atherton, the chairman, said. "You could see there was something special when Sam came up through the club. There has always been something different about him. He's always had that little individual sparkle and unpredictability, which you can’t coach into players."

The same was said of Andy Gregory and Shaun Edwards, two other "St Pats" scrum halves who excelled for Wigan and country from a tender age. Tomkins made one appearance for Wigan's first team in 2008, scoring five tries in a Challenge Cup tie against Whitehaven. The mercurial talents hinted at that night have been born out since June, when Tim Smith, the club's first-choice stand-off, was injured.

Smith's misfortune was Tomkins' opportunity and a series of mesmeric displays earned him the engage Super League young player of the year award. Although built like a pipecleaner, his dazzling footwork and ability to spot gaps idenitifed him as that rare British rugby league commodity nowadays, a creative half back who thrives at running at opponents and whose rapid emergence now culminates in the ultimate test against Australia.

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The middle one of three brothers - Joel, the eldest, is an established part of the Wigan pack and Logan is in the academy squad - Tomkins, who replaces Richard Myler at No.7 after last week's 34-12 defeat of France, could not have asked for a more apt setting than the DW Stadium, where he first played for "St Pats" at 12. "It's a huge deal the match being in my home town. It'll help with some of the nerves, I'm sure," he said.

"If you aspire to be the best, you've got to beat the best. It's going to special playing opposite Darren Lockyer and Johnathan Thurston, because those are the guys you look up to. But if I'm not mistaken, it's still thirteen of them and thirteen of us. I'm sure they'll get their big guys running at me. That's fine, because I'm probably quicker anyway.

"I've developed my style over the past year. I've recognised that sometimes I play off the cuff too much and I've got to know when to rein it in at times. But if there are gaps and weakness I think I can exploit, I'm not going to stop myself. It's a wonderful chance I've been given."

With another former "St Pats" man in Shaun Briscoe at full back, the Wigan crowd have another home-town hero to roar on in a game that Ausuralia must win to reach the Gillette Four Nations final in two weeks' time. If England can be competitive, it would represent a substantial improvement on their poor World Cup showing, although a Kangaroos team stung by last Saturday's 20-20 draw with New Zealand, who meet France in Toulouse, represent a hugely formidale proposition.

Fourteen years after the BBC last had rights to a live Saturday afternoon Anglo-Australian encounter, a throwback to great Ashes series matches when Joe Lydon, Ellery Hanley, Martin Offiah, Jonathan Davies and Mike Gregory existed in a national conscience for rugby league, the slender figure of Sam Tomkins can make a name for himself.

England: S Briscoe; T Briscoe, L Smith, M Shenton, R Hall; D McGuire, S Tomkins; A Morley, J Roby, J Graham, G Ellis, J Peacock (captain), K Sinfield. Interchange: S Burgess, E Crabtree, K Eastmond, B Westwood.

Australia: B Slater; B Morris, G Inglis, J Hodges, J Hayne; D Lockyer (captain), J Thurston; B Hannant, C Smith, P Civoniceva, A Watmough, P Gallen, N Hindmarsh. Interchange: R Farah, B White, L Lewis, D Shillington.

Referee: S Ganson (England).

Television: BBC1 2.10pm (kick off 2.30pm).