England winger Paul Sackey could have forged a promising career in football but hopes his decision to pursue rugby will be rewarded with the highest honour.
Sackey, who featured in Sunday's 29-5 Churchill Cup victory over Canada, was invited for trials with Crystal Palace after showing rich potential during his early teens but a change of schools forced him to switch his sporting allegiance.
The rugby-only John Fisher School gave him his first taste of union at the age of 16 and he was soon spotted by Wasps, the club he rejoined in February after a productive four-year spell at London Irish.
The flying 25-year-old is one of the fastest players in the Zurich Premiership but, despite making a handful of senior England appearances, he has yet to win his first cap - a situation he hopes to rectify soon.
``I was quite good at football. I'm not sure how far I would have gone had I stuck with it. Everyone wants to be a professional football player but you have to have something special,'' he said.
``I had trials with a few clubs, including Palace. They were in the top flight at the time. They were my local team, but I supported Liverpool. I was still gutted when Palace went down last season because they're my local team.
``I was a holding midfielder. I enjoyed the game and could have got somewhere with it, but I'm happy with what I'm doing now. I was forced to play rugby at my school and that's how I got into it. In the sixth form I started enjoying it a little bit more.''
He added: ``I haven't been capped yet but like any player my ambition is to get into the Test side. The Churchill Cup has given me the chance to show what I can do for England and hopefully I'll impress the selectors.''
Sackey produced an encouraging display against Canada, showing Derek Daypuck a clean pair of heels as he used a lightning turn of pace to skin the full-back and run in England's opening try.
``I enjoyed the match. It was quite hot. The Canadians came out to spoil our possession and did the job very well. We didn't get our gameplan going because of them. They were very, very physical at the breakdown,'' said Sackey.
``They had a couple of players in the backs who were useful - their number 12 broke through us a few times. Defensively we were a bit leaky in midfield. But I enjoyed my try, especially as it was in an England shirt.
``James Simpson-Daniel created it. He made the break and gave me a little bit of room, so I took the outside and managed to go around their full-back.''
England head coach Joe Lydon names his team to face Argentina in the Churchill Cup final tomorrow and Sackey is desperate to be involved.
``I've never played against Argentina but everyone tells me how physical they are. They drew 25-25 with the Lions last month so we know they'll be useful. Hopefully I will get a crack at them,'' he said.