Former Glasgow Warrior Vernon made his first start for Sale last weekend and while he was on the scoresheet, the Sharks crashed to defeat to defending champions Gloucester in the LV= Cup.

But despite picking up the man-of-the-match award in Scotland’s narrow World Cup defeat to England, Vernon believes he is an unknown quantity south of the border.

“It was a real case of ‘what if’ for me and the rest of the Scotland guys at the World Cup,” said Vernon.

“We were close but, in the end, we weren’t good enough and it was a case of what could have been.

“But I feel like I’ve got a point to prove now and rather than sit and dwell on things, it was great to come straight back to Sale from the World Cup.

“A lot of people down here maybe won’t know too much about me because I came under the radar so want to make my mark.”