The 22-year-old was drafted into the England squad for his first senior international start just the day before the 31-21 RBS 6 Nations victory against Wales because of an injury to Paul Grayson.

He made a brilliant first start, but the competition in front of him - Jonny Wilkinson, Charlie Hodgson and Paul Grayson - is considerable.

It makes it no easier that his left-footed kicking style is almost a replica of Wilkinsons.

Its hard filling the boots of Jonny, let alone Jonny and Paul, admitted Barkley. But if I started to worry about that I wouldnt be focused on what I need to do. Its important to get that out of my head.

Id like to play 10, but 10 and 12 are positions where you need time to become great at them. All I can hope is that I play well at 10 and Bath pick me there.

Having my hands forward when Im kicking is all about keeping my right shoulder in so I dont pull the ball. It helps my focus, though I get asked about it a lot because of Jonny.

Jonny has raised the bar in terms of standards. If you want to get the number 10 jersey you dont have to be as good as him, you have to be better than him which is a scary thought.

Woodward has admitted that he faces a tough call in choosing his fly-half for the RBS 6 Nations finale against France.

Grayson is likely to be fit, but Barkley boosted his chances with 16 points - six kicks out of seven attempts.

I think that Paul Grayson is probably about two or three days away from being fit, so he will be available for next week, said Woodward.

It will be a tough call, but you want those tough calls. We will pick our strongest team.

I thought that Olly had a tremendous game. He looked very composed out there - he was outstanding.

We made the obvious call to pick him, and he stepped up to the mark. There was a lot of pressure on him.

The squad is announced on March 22, and Englands medical staff will need to assess flanker Chris Jones.

The Sale man went off injured less than a minute into the second half to be replaced by try-scorer Joe Worsley.