James Pater hat-trick in Premiership opener for Saints, recalls Wilkinson coaching session

James Pater scored a hat-trick for Northampton Saints against Newcastle Red Bulls in the Premiership opener on Friday, his third Premiership start. He finished as player of the match, an award donated to him by Fin Smith.

Every other year, towards the end of pre-season, Northampton players receive a pair of personalised shoes from a club sponsor; Pater was handed his first set earlier this month with his 'Saints number' 2,110 inscribed on the sole. With club captain George Furbank having moved to Harlequins, Pater was selected at full-back for the opener. The 19-year-old, born July 2007, has drawn attention through age-grade performances and coach assessments: Phil Dowson said earlier this year, "James' ceiling is incredibly high," and added, "He's incredibly fast and dynamic. He always looks like he has time on the ball. He reads space exceptionally well, he's strong under the high ball, his passing is top quality, he's not afraid to carry the ball into contact or take defenders on, and he finds gaps you don't think are there."

Pater crossed for his first try inside four minutes, added a second inside 15 minutes and completed his hat-trick later in the match. His gliding runs and timely support lines have already been attracting admiration for England Under-20s and Saints age-grade sides.

On his sporting background Pater said, "I always played football growing up," and added, "I didn't start rugby until I went to secondary school and joined Huntingdon Stags." He also described his other youth sports: "Before that it was always football, I played at a high level - Cambridge United's senior development squad. I also played country cricket and some hockey."

Pater outlined the timing of his move into the Saints pathway: "I only got through to Saints academy at 16, which was relatively late. Others were in it from 13 or so. It was coming up to GCSEs and I had to choose to concentrate on something, so I put football to the side."

A local charity auction provided a memorable coaching experience with Jonny Wilkinson when Pater was younger; he recalled, "All the parents from our Shelford Under-16s put £50 in and about 15 of us went down to [England's training base] Pennyhill Park to do a kicking session with him. It was really cool, so fun. I wasn't in the Saints academy then, I just loved played rugby and it wasn't something too serious. But to hear his wisdom was unbelievable."

Dowson entrusted Pater with a specific role in training ahead of Northampton's Champions Cup meeting with Bordeaux-Begles, asking him to replicate France fly-half Matthieu Jalibert. "He goes for a lot of chip and chase; little kicks through and likes to create opportunities against unstructured defence," remembers Pater. "I was just trying to challenge our boys and put people into space." He said he models his game on Beauden Barrett and Quade Cooper and recalled watching club players rise through the ranks: "I remember being 17 or 18 in the academy, wanting to make it as a professional and watching Furbs [Furbank], George Hendy and Tommy Freeman tear it up," Pater remembers. He has scored four tries in seven appearances for England Under-20s and noted the strength of Northampton's emerging cohort, citing Henry Pollock and Archie McParland, both 21, as a group ahead of him.

Nicknamed 'the Slim Reaper' by team-mate Chunya Munga, Pater currently weighs 13 and a half stone and set out physical targets over the summer. "I want to be more physically robust, win collisions, challenge people at the gainline and be consistent in playing every Saturday," says Pater "I'm grinding hard in the gym, I probably have licence to eat whatever I want to put on that weight as well. "It'll just make me stronger and add to my game, so hopefully it looks better out there when I am running faster and beating people."

Pater has spoken with England A head coach Mark Mapletoft and the second string have a match against an Argentina XV in November which could be a prime opportunity. "I don't like to get too far ahead of myself and be arrogant, but obviously I've got goals that I want to achieve," he said. "But it's all based on performance out on the pitch." So far, so early in the season, that is only counting in his favour.