FORMER Crewe schoolboy Mark Cueto capped his England debut with a stunning brace of tries during Saturday's 70-0 demolition of Canada.

Cueto, 24, effortlessly transferred his outstanding form in the Zurich Premiership to the international stage at Twickenham, during Sale Sharks team-mate Jason Robinson's first outing as England captain, settling his nerves early on against the inferior Canadians.

He added to first-half tries from Robinson (two), Josh Lewsey (two), and Mike Tindall, when a neat move involving Charlie Hodgson and Robinson ended in the onrushing centre diving over the line.

Robinson completed his hat-trick before Cueto added his second, along with scores from Will Greenwood, Lewis Moody and Hugh Vyvyan.

Cueto admitted his call-up had taken him by surprise. He said: 'It was a bit of a shock but great news. Playing for England was always at the back of my mind. You start to dream and set yourself targets.'

The Sharks winger admits that football was always his first love, and he lined up alongside Crewe captain Kenny Lunt and ex-Alex striker Rob Hulse in a game for Cheshire schools while he was a sixth former at St Thomas More.

He said: 'I was brought up playing football from the age of five or six to about 18 every Saturday and Sunday and a lot of my interests were in that and not rugby union. I played football at a decent level but I never made it.'

The Cumbrian-born player, who moved to Crewe when he was 10, only really began to excel at rugby when he started a BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching and Exercise course at Alsager's Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) campus.

Dr Neil Roach, of MMU Cheshire, said: 'Mark was an excellent footballer but when he started picking up the ball, he was even better. We've still got the bruises to prove it.'

Cueto added: 'I played with Sand-bach for a brief spell and then with Altrincham Kersal. I was invited to Sale and they liked what they saw.'

The winger is an instrumental figure for Sharks, current leaders in the Zurich Premiership, and is the third international rugby union player to graduate from MMU Cheshire after Will Harrison, the England star of the late 1980s, and Ian Bucket, of Swansea and Wales.

Cueto is expected to retain his place in the England side for Saturday's more difficult test against South Africa. Captain Robinson said: 'I think it is right to keep faith with a largely unchanged side this week.'