NEWCASTLE Falcons are hoping to cause one of the shocks of the season when they face Stade Francais this afternoon. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson talks to their captain and finds that his world has already been turned upside down.

ASK any neutral observer, and they will tell you that Newcastle Falcons are living in dreamland if they think they can beat Stade Francais in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup this afternoon.

While Rob Andrew's side are sampling the last eight of the competition for the first time, their French opponents have made two semi-finals and a final in the last five years and won back-to-back domestic titles to boot.

So perhaps it is just as well that, when the Falcons walk out at Paris' imposing Parc des Princes, they will be led by a player who has spent the last two months proving that dreams can come true.

At the turn of the year, Jamie Noon was little more than a Premiership perennial, a player who impressed at domestic level but looked like missing out on the bigger stage.

Three caps on England's unheralded tour of North America in 2001, and an unsuccessful attempt to force himself into Sir Clive Woodward's World Cup squad two years later, seemed to be the extent of his international ambitions.

Yet, two months on, and the 25-year-old has become one of the hottest properties in the English game.

Thrust into the centre of England's backline for the opening Six Nations game with Wales, Noon went on to produce a string of ever-more impressive displays that culminated in a handsome hat-trick of tries in last month's win over Scotland.

While all of that was going on, his wife, Rachel, gave birth to the couple's first child, Lewis, to complete eight whirlwind weeks that changed both his personal and professional life completely.

Most people would have been in need of a rest - if worrying about England's next game hasn't kept him awake it's a fair bet that his new-born son has - but, rather than reflecting on his success, the Yorkshire-born centre has been steeling himself for an even bigger challenge.

With Jonny Wilkinson and Ian Peel nursing injuries, Noon will lead the Falcons for the third time this afternoon.

And, if he can maintain the 100 per cent record he established in back-to-back wins over Edinburgh, he will have overseen an achievement every bit as memorable as anything that has happened this year.

"It's the biggest game I've played in for Newcastle," said Noon, who originally joined the club as a flanker after graduating from university in the city. "So I'm both honoured and pleased to have been made captain.

"It's unfortunate that Ian and Jonny are not available because, in an ideal world, I would prefer for them to play and one of them to be captain.

"They are great leaders, but I'm just going to have to play to my best and lead by example. I'm probably the only person at the club with a 100 per cent record as captain, so let's hope that's a good omen."

While Noon might lack experience of the skipper's role, his remarkable run of form means he will not go into today's game short of confidence.

While fellow Falcon Mathew Tait fell by the wayside after February's defeat in Cardiff, Noon went from strength to strength as England gradually found their feet in a Six Nations tournament that saw them lose three games by a combined total of nine points.

England coach Andy Robinson felt he was "one of the finds of the Six Nations" and, while the incisive runner is refusing to get complacent, he is understandably content at the way the last two months have panned out.

"I feel confident with the way I'm playing," said Noon. "I feel I'm playing well and that's good going into a game like this.

"The Six Nations were a dream come true. I didn't expect to be involved. I thought I could possibly get dropped after the first game, but to stick around and do so well made me really happy.

"I always thought that, given the chance, I'd do okay. People like Olly (Barkley) and Charlie (Hodgson) played well inside me and that gave me a good chance as an outside centre.

"It was always going to take a little while to settle nerves and relax, but the birth of my son helped because I had another focus in my life."

His focus today will be trained on trying to help Newcastle record one of their greatest ever wins.

Last weekend's defeat to Bath left the Falcons in seventh place in the Premiership and, after crashing out of the Powergen Cup at the hands of Saracens, the Heineken Cup represents their only route back into Europe next season.

Andrew's side have already bettered their previous best in the tournament by making the last eight, and wins over Perpignan, Edinburgh and Newport have underlined just how much talent currently resides at Kingston Park.

But, with a host of forwards unavailable through injury, Newcastle's under-strength front row will have to perform heroics to see off a French pack regularly lauded as one of the best in Europe.

Andrew has joked that the Falcons might re-locate to Durban such is the fluidity of their running game but, while conditions in Paris are likely to be conducive to expansive rugby, the outcome of today's game is still likely to rest on how much ball comes back on the Newcastle side.

"We have a tough game ahead," admitted Noon. "I have no illusions about that.

"We know the way they will play. We know they have great strengths in their forwards and up front.

"We'll be aiming to try to move them around.

"We want to play an open style of rugby and we want to play away from their strengths and towards ours.

"They are the French champions and, if we're honest, we're not expected to win. But that takes the pressure off. It's that bit easier when you're not expected to win."

The history books are littered with winners who weren't supposed to win.

It would be one of the shocks of the season if Newcastle were to upset the odds this afternoon but, given everything that has happened to Noon this year, there is every chance of him playing two even bigger games before the end of May.

"This is big," he joked. "But, in essence, there is nothing at stake. Imagine if it had been a final - now that really would be great."