Charlie Hodgson's star hasn't always shone brightest but if the selectors were picking a British and Irish Lions team today, he would immediately be thrown the No 10 shirt.

Bradford & Bingley's head coach Geoff Wappett, who mentored Hodgson at Bradford Grammar School from the age of 11 to 16, is in no doubt about that.

"He is a top young man and there is no edge to him at all, no arrogance," said Wappett of the 25-year-old England fly half, echoing the thoughts of PE colleague Richard Head.

"You could recognise him as a future England international even at the age of 12 and 13 because he was a great assessor of what needed to be done," added Wappett.

"He read the game so well and in that sense he was way above anyone else. When you are 12, 13 or 14 you kick the ball without any real intent but every kick of Charlie's had a purpose."

The only thing that Wappett felt would hold the future Sale Sharks player back was his size - or lack of it.

The former director of PE at Bradford Grammar School said of Hodgson: "He was extremely tiny and didn't start sprouting until he was 16.

"By the time he was 20 he was a normal-sized guy but not big (he is now 5ft 10in and 12st 13lb)."

Wappett is ideally placed also to compare Hodgson with Jonny Wilkinson, who for so long wore the England No 10 shirt ahead of him.

"Jonny Wilkinson, who I have worked with very closely at England age-group level, is a more manufactured player, whereas Charlie is a natural ball-player," said Wappett.

"He is freer in his mind and more

flexible, whereas Jonny is more planned, more structured and has got where he is through a lot of hard work - not that Charlie hasn't worked hard too."

Hodgson is quick to point out the enormous influence that Bradford Grammar School had on his development.

The former England 18 Group international said: "Being there had a massive impact because of the quality of people in my year and the quality of coaching at the school over the years.

"I really enjoyed it and it was good for my development as a whole."

Maybe it stood Hodgson in good stead for what happened in England's post World Cup-winning era.

The Guinness Premiership player of the month for January suffered some hurtful comments from the national rugby media when his play, and more particularly his goal-kicking, supposedly did not match up to what Wilkinson had achieved before.

"I used to read the papers 12 to 18 months ago and got abused massively by them, so I don't read them now," said Hodgson on a flying visit back to Bradford for a sportsmans' charity dinner at Valley Parade.

"I just focus on the criticism from people around me and by the people I work for."

He added tellingly, however: "I have always maintained a strong self belief and knew that perhaps one day I would become the No 1 England fly half." As for what will happen in the rest of the RBS Six Nations, Hodgson says: "People expect Scotland (England's opponents at Murrayfield this evening) and Italy to be the whipping boys but I don't think that is the case at the moment. They have shown that they can match and even beat sides."

l The unwashed shirt that Hodgson wore in the England v Wales match on Saturday, February 4 proved the top attraction during the auction at the Lord Mayor's Appeal Sporting Legends Dinner at Valley Parade, raising £1,200 - more than twice as much as any other item.

The evening as a whole raised more than £10,000 for the Lord Mayor's two charities - Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the Burns Research Unit at the University of Bradford and Bradford Royal Infirmary.