Last year the 20-year-old jumped at the chance to switch from Championship side Nottingham to French giants Stade Francais – after meeting Stade chief executive Mathias Poursine on a skiing holiday.

Having since made several Top 14 appearances, including a start against Jonny Wilkinson’s Toulon, Davies - who has not played for England at any level – must wait to see if head coach Mark Mapletoft gives him the nod after being named among the replacements.

England – who could still be crowned champions if they pull off a better result than table-topping Ireland - welcome back London Irish full back Tom Homer, prop Shaun Knight and Newcastle Falcons back row Will Welch.

And Davies, on the bench in place of Jordi Pasqualin, insists his feet have not touched the ground since the chance meeting at Alpe d’Huez in 2007.

He said: "He gave me his card, told me to keep in touch and I did, asking questions about what could happen and whether I could come over and join their academy.

"Around Christmas 2008 I went over for three days of training and kept hammering on the door. Eventually they said they'd take a chance on me and Mathias said 'this is the biggest gamble of my career'.

"You've got to take the chance when it comes. I get more excited about it all than nervous and I'm enjoying every minute. It's a brilliant experience for someone my age to be playing and living in France."

England Under 20
15 Tom Homer (London Irish)
14 Marcus Watson (London Irish)
13 Andrew Forsyth (Leicester Tigers)
12 Tom Casson (Harlequins)
11 Sam Smith (Harlequins)
10 Rory Clegg (Harlequins)
9 Sam Harrison (Leicester Tigers)
1 Joe Marler (Harlequins)
2 Jamie George (Saracens)
3 Shaun Knight (Gloucester Rugby)
4 Calum Green (Leicester Tigers)
5 Charlie Matthews (Harlequins),
6 Will Welch (Newcastle Falcons)
7 Jacob Rowan (Leeds Carnegie, captain),
8 Jamie Gibson (London Irish)

Replacements
16 Arthur Ellis (London Wasps)
17 Lee Imiolek (Sale Sharks)
18 Danny Wright (Gloucester Rugby)
19 Jackson Wray (Saracens).
20 Charlie Davies (Stade Francais)
21 Mark Atkinson (Sale Sharks)
22 Tom Catterick (Newcastle Falcons)