Kyle has the world at his feet

CLASS OF 2003: Kyle Eastmond (front row, third left) helped Oldham St Anne’s under-14s to win the North-West Counties League title.

AFTER earning rave reviews from his first full season of Super League and finishing the year as England’s first–choice scrum-half, the world is at the feet of Kyle Eastmond.

The 20–year–old’s last match for St Helens was at centre in October’s Grand Final but the Oldhamer, who played his junior rugby at St Oldham Anne’s, will be given first shot at filling the boots of Sean Long following the veteran number seven’s move to Hull.

Ironically, Eastmond will be up against his illustrious predecessor when Long makes his engage Super League debut for the Black and Whites against Saints at Knowsley Road on February 6.

“The ball is firmly in his court now,” said Martin Offiah, the former Wigan and Great Britain winger, who is Eastmond’s manager.

“He’s had a meteoric rise in the space of six months. He’s gone from being a bit–part player at Saints to the England number seven and now he’s the heir–apparent to Sean Long.

“They were confident enough to allow Sean Long to move on and he’s got the number seven jersey for next season.”

Offiah, who recently negotiated a new two–year contract for his client, has no doubt Eastmond will be one of the players to watch in 2010.

“There are three players to my mind to build our international hopes around,” he said.

“There’s Kyle, Richie Myler and Sam Tomkins — and I think you can throw Ryan Hall in there as well.

“They are the next Danny McGuire, Leon Pryce, Shaun Edwards, Ellery Hanleys of their time. That’s a lot of pressure on young shoulders but the way that Super League has gone, it’s a young man’s game now.

“With no promotion or relegation, there’s an opportunity for young players because clubs aren’t under as much pressure to get results. They can afford to give themselves more time to bring guys through.”

Eastmond, who has been with St Helens since the age of 13, has yet to acquire the organisational skills of his predecessor but his electrifying pace off the mark and ability to beat a man have drawn favourable comparisons with some of the best players of the modern era.

“A lot of people compare him to Jason Robinson and he has that low centre of gravity and the physical skills that allow him to win a game on his own,” said Offiah.

“He’s got that excitement factor that the likes of Ellery and Jason had. He has got some deft skills, an impressive short kicking game — as he demonstrated in the Four Nations — and a great step. He’s got what they call a kit bag of skills.

“I think next season he needs to work on getting the team around the park and establishing combinations with individual players.

“He needs to build a relationship with Leon Pryce, as Sean Long did, and what Bobbie Goulding did with Tommy Martyn. They make people around them play better.”

Robinson, now head coach of rugby union outfit Sale Sharks, caused a few raised eyebrows on the eve of the Four Nations final by claiming Eastmond is more gifted than he was at the same age.

Even Offiah reckons that is a touch of exaggeration but has no doubt about the player’s exciting potential.

“I’d say he is a more rounded player,” he added. “I think Jason’s being a little bit flattering to Kyle at the moment but it’s all there for Kyle to do.

“You don’t want to be compared with Jason Robinson at the beginning of your career. If you can be compared with Jason Robinson at the end of your career, you’ve done something right.”