JONNY May will be bidding to give England the perfect start to their World Cup campaign tonight when they take on Fiji in the tournament opener at Twickenham.

Chiseldon’s May, 25, will start on the wing for Stuart Lancaster’s side as they look to get off to a flier in Group A.

May is back in the Red Rose fold after impressing in the World Cup warm-up matches, which followed a strong season with club side Gloucester.

His resurgence has coincided with a link-up with former Great Britain sprinter Marlon Devonish, who has been taking speed sessions with the Cherry and Whites since 2013.

Devonish, who helped Team GB claim a famous 4x100m gold medal at 2004 Olympics in Athens, now thinks May has what it takes to wreak havoc at the World Cup.

“Jonny was already very quick when I began working with the club, but he has been one of the players who stood out and I felt I could make a real difference,” Devonish told the Daily Telegraph.

“He did a little bit of pole vault when he was younger and there are certain traits that you have to have to even hold the pole never mind vault over the bar, so from a young age, he had learnt some of the basic fundamentals of technique, such as high knee lift.

“When I first started working with him, he was a little bit too tight and tense and was trying too hard, which you can do when you are sprinting.

“Speed work is very complex. In team sports, people tend to lean towards frequency – they think, ‘I need to run quicker so I need to spin my legs more quickly’. But there is an optimum amount you can do with that and it is not always the most efficient way.

“Once I get an understanding of the player, I use all my cues and training methods to allow the players to get faster. Once they believe in it, you usually get results and their times become quicker and, on the pitch, they become more confident.

“Jonny asks all the right questions, understands the finer details, he is really enthusiastic and still feels he can get quicker, which is great. He has become more efficient so he can maintain a higher velocity over the 80 minutes of a rugby match.

“Jonny is quick enough to go to a grand prix race. He could definitely mix with some keen sprinters, definitely domestically. It is one thing to get quicker, but the key is being able to replicate that speed thorough the 80 minutes, particularly in the last 20 minutes when teams are beginning to make mistakes.

“Over the last three years I have got to know him, I think he finally looks comfortable in the England set up and it feels like this is the right time for him.”