JONNY May faces a stiff fight to earn a starting jersey for England but Rugby World Cup winner Jason Robinson believes the Gloucester flyer has a useful weapon in his armoury, writes Paddy von Behr.

On November 8 last year, May managed to do what very few players in world rugby have done – leave the All Blacks backs chasing his shadow.

After just four minutes at Twickenham the 25-year-old – earning his eighth cap and yet to score a Test try – received the ball inside his own half.

After darting between two defenders, May set off around the outside of full-back Israel Dagg and touched down to send the home crowd into raptures.

After a double against Samoa two weeks later, May only earned two appearances in this year’s Six Nations but former England wing Robinson believes that moment of magic against New Zealand could work in his favour.

“I think Jonny May is a fantastic player,” said Land Rover ambassador Robinson, speaking an event at Guy Salmon Stockport on Saturday that saw the 2015 Rugby World Cup Trophy paraded to the public.

“He has been scoring some really good tries. I look back to the try he scored against New Zealand and I think that was a very special try, indeed.

“He’s going to be fighting it out with the other wingers to see who can really make an impact on this Rugby World Cup, because it’s going to be tough – there’s lots of wingers about – but he is a guy who’s got great pace, great feet and can certainly score a try.”

May’s competition comes in the shape of Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson, Chris Ashton, Marland Yarde and Semesa Rokoduguni, with all six battling for places in Stuart Lancaster’s final World Cup squad of 31.

“It’s going to come down to performance,” said Robinson. “It’s all about making a difference whether you’ve got the ball in hand or not, and ultimately as a winger you want to score.

“You want to get your hands on the ball, you want to take the opposition on and you want to score tries. There’s great competition and hopefully, may the best winger get the shirt.

“It’s a great opportunity for these guys, and if they get it right, if they work hard, and they score tries, they’ll create memories that will live with them forever.”

Meanwhile, Robinson expects that whoever does get the nod will face a tough test of their abilities, as England prepare to face Australia, Wales, Fiji and Uruguay in the pool stage.

He added: “For England, being in Pool A – the ‘group of death’ as everybody is calling it – realistically, you need to be finishing first in order to give yourself the best possible opportunity to get through to final.

“It’s going to be exciting. I can’t wait until September the 18 when England take on Fiji in that first game. So many people are talking about it everywhere you go.”

Jason Robinson is a Land Rover ambassador. Land Rover is recruiting all 96 official mascots for Rugby World Cup 2015 as part of its ‘We Deal In Real’ campaign.

Follow @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal