It is interesting — let us put it no stronger than that for the moment — that this summer Mathew Tait has done what Lawrence Dallaglio constantly urged Jonny Wilkinson to do. The view of Dallaglio, now retired as the icon of London Wasps, was that Wilkinson needed to leave Newcastle Falcons if he was to move his play forward and join a club that played in the upper reaches of the Guinness Premiership and in the Heineken Cup.

Many will regard it as a credit to Wilkinson that he has remained loyal to the club that projected him to stardom with England and the world. But the second generation of Newcastle backs, those who followed Wilkinson, Jamie Noon, Michael Stephenson and Tom May, have taken a different view: Toby Flood has moved to Leicester and Tait to Sale Sharks, both in the hope of discovering the consistency, individual and collective, that eluded them at Kingston Park.

The timing is even more significant for Tait, whose talent is generally acknowledged but who has yet to discover his optimum position on the field. Since Andy Robinson, the England head coach at the time, first threw him a midfield jersey in 2005 (and then threw him out of the squad) Tait has won 24 caps, of which half have come as the starting outside centre; he has also made two starts at full back, one on the left wing and appeared as a replacement in all positions in the threequarters and full back.

To say it is confusing is to underplay the situation, as Tait himself was forced to appreciate earlier this year. He had established himself during the 2007 World Cup at No 13, he made the break that might have turned the World Cup final against South Africa had it resulted in the try it deserved, and then found there was no place for him in the match 22 who opened the 2008 RBS Six Nations Championship against Wales.

He was brought back into the fold thereafter, but no further than the bench until the summer tour to New Zealand, when he was an unused replacement in the first meeting in Auckland and then played at full back in Christchurch. Since then England’s coaches have confirmed, with little room for doubt, that they regard him as a full back, which means that, at 22, Tait must reshape his game. That he has the skill, the intelligence and the application to do so is obvious. It is equally clear that he has the pace to make the required contribution in attack and the strength to defend successfully. All he needs now is the game time. “One of the main reasons for moving \ was to progress my career,” Tait said and, having agreed a one-year extension to his Newcastle contract, he is grateful to his former employer for allowing him to move.

“I’ve spoken to England and Philippe \, they seem to want me to play full back. I’m perfectly happy with that, so long as I can play one position and get used to it. Versatility has not served me badly, it’s a squad game after all, but it’s time to nail one position down and there were elements, for me, of the New Zealand tour that went reasonably well.”

Tait did not complete the second international after a collision with Richard Kahui that sent him to the sidelines with facial damage seven minutes from full time but he had been one of the brighter sparks in a 44-12 defeat and almost created from nothing a try, which was only prevented by an awkward bounce.

Not that Sale will be an easy ride, if such a thing exists in the Premiership. Tait will contest the No 15 shirt with Rory Lamont, of Scotland, just as he will contest the England place with Josh Lewsey. “It’s massively important, when you come into a new environment, to earn the respect of your new colleagues,” Tait said. “Perform for your club, that’s the bread and butter, you work hard and hope it will warrant international selection.

“I felt it was the right time to move. There were options other than Sale but you can see the ambition at the club, the players they were recruiting like Dwayne Peel to go with guys like Charlie Hodgson and Luke McAlister. The goal is a top-four finish and then see what happens.”

Nor has Tait given up on the biomedical degree on which he has been working over the past two years. He is optimistic about moving his study course from Newcastle to one of Manchester’s centres of higher education but, in the meantime, will be throwing his energies into qualifying for his pilot’s licence. Aiming high, in all areas.

Club information: Director of rugby: Philippe Saint-Andre Captain: Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe Website: www.salesharks.com Address: Edgeley Park, Hardcastle Road, Stockport SK3 9DD Telephone: 0161 286 8888 Tickets: 08712 220120

Squad:

English unless stated

Internationals IN CAPITALS

Forwards -

Luke Abraham; Neil Briggs; SÉBASTIEN BRUNO (Fr, 26 caps); SÉBASTIEN CHABAL (Fr, 39); BRENT COCKBAIN (Wales, 24);Sean Cox; Ross Davies (Wales); LIONEL FAURE (Fr, 4); JUAN MARTÍN FERNÁNDEZ LOBBE (Arg, 25); Mike Hills; CHRIS JONES (12); SCOTT LAWSON (Scot, 16); Kristian Ormsby (NZ); Eifion Roberts (Wales); DEAN SCHOFIELD (2); Alex Shaw; ANDREW SHERIDAN (25); STUART TURNER (3); JASON WHITE (Scot, 67).

Backs -

Chris Bell; Will Cliff; MARK CUETO (25 caps); David Doherty; CHARLIE HODGSON (31); Rudi Keil (SA); RORY LAMONT (Sco, 17); LUKE McALISTER (NZ, 22); Nick Macleod (Wales); DWAYNE PEEL (Wales, 61); ORIOL RIPOL (Sp, 11); MATHEW TAIT (24); Lee Thomas (Wales); RICHARD WIGGLESWORTH (5).

Fixtures:

Sept 7 Newcastle Falcons (a)

Sept 12 Saracens (h)

Sept 19 Bristol (a)

Sept 26 Gloucester (h)

Oct 1 London Irish (a)

Oct 4 Cardiff Blues (h)

Oct 11 Clermont Auvergne (a)

Oct 19 Munster (h)

Oct 24 Bath (h)

Nov 1 Leicester (a)

Nov 14 Worcester Warriors (h)

Nov 23 London Wasps (a)

Nov 28 Leicester (h)

Dec 5 Montauban (h)

Dec 13 Montauban (a)

Dec 20 Bath (a)

Dec 26 London Wasps (h)

Jan 3 Worcester Warriors (a)

Jan 9 London Irish (h)

Jan 17 Munster (a)

Jan 23 Clermont Auvergne (h)

Feb 14 Gloucester (a)

Feb 20 Bristol (h)

March 1 Saracens (a)

March 6 Newcastle Falcons (h)

March 14 Northampton (a)

March 22 Harlequins (a)

March 27 Bath (h)

April 4 Leicester (a)

April 17 Harlequins (h)

April 25 Northampton (h)