THELWALL rugby union star David Strettle is determined to impress again in England's important Six Nations clash against France at Twickenham on Sunday.

The former Lymm High School pupil scored a try on an encouraging international debut on the left wing in England's 43-13 defeat to Ireland in Dublin two weeks ago.

He has been handed the right-wing berth against the French after recovering from a dead leg sustained in Harlequins' loss at Leicester on Saturday.

England need to win well to give themselves any chance of winning the tournament and Strettle is keen to use the game, which starts at 3pm, to further develop his reputation as an international player.

"It will be superb to play again," said the winger, who recently signed a three-year extension to his contract at Harlequins.

"Once you experience something like your first cap it gives you a little bit more drive.

"Your drive is to achieve your first cap and once you achieve that you want another taste of it.

"I just want the same again. Any player just wants to impress, be it your teammates, your coach or the spectators.

"You want to put your own mark on the game. If people who watch the game are asked about me, hopefully they will say something positive and I can leave that impression.

"Every time you put on the shirt for club or country you've got to go in 100 per cent or you'll get injured, but in terms of the whole Six Nations it's definitely a big game."

Strettle played for Lymm RFC and Warrington RUFC after leaving school and has fond memories of his time at the two clubs, having gone on tour with Lymm to Poland and made a guest appearance for them in a sevens tournament as recently as 2005.

"Playing for those two clubs was superb," said the 23-year-old, who often returns to the town on his days off.

"When you play professional rugby you're in a lot more professional environment and have got a lot more reason to do it than just enjoying it.

"But some of the best times I've had playing rugby were with Warrington and Lymm."

For many rugby league fans, Strettle's emergence in rugby union will be seen as a missed opportunity for Warrington Wolves, especially as he comes from a family that followed league avidly.

Strettle said: "My dad's a St Helens lad so he supported them and my brother was born in Wigan and supported them. My uncle played as well.

"Being a Warrington lad I've always supported the Wire but Lymm High School played union so that's why I made the changeover."

And despite making his England debut just five months after his first Premiership appearance, Strettle is keen to point out that he has been working at his game for some time, having played for Rotherham in National League One for three years.

"I've definitely gone from Division One to England pretty quickly but I feel like I've done my time learning my trade," he said.

"People think I haven't playing in the Premiership for that long but I've definitely been playing rugby for a while. It's not like I just picked up a rugby ball last week!"