NEWCASTLE Falcons' Mathew Tait was yesterday named in the 12-man England squad for the Emirates Airline IRB Sevens tournaments in Dubai and South Africa.

The 18-year-old former Barnard Castle School pupil will fly to Dubai on Sunday and will be away for two weeks.

England Sevens coach Mike Friday said: "Mathew is the new young talent everyone is talking about. He is a very intelligent runner and has fantastic pace."

The selectors have resisted the temptation to include Tait's teammate Phil Dowson, who is now a key member of the Falcons team and will be available for Sunday's match at home to Northampton followed by the back-to-back Heineken Cup games against Edinburgh.

Tait will be unavailable for those games but said: "To be called into the England Sevens squad is a dream come true. England have an incredibly strong record on the Sevens circuit but have never won in Dubai. Hopefully I'll be part of the team aiming to change that.

"This is a great opportunity for a young player like me. You get to travel the world and play against some of the finest teams in front of huge crowds. I'm extremely proud and hope to do everyone proud."

The Dubai tournament starts next Thursday, and England will play Scotland, France and Uganda in the pool stages. In South Africa they will play Australia, Kenya and Ireland on December 10 and 11.

Tait's selection comes two days after Falcons' Wallsend-born prop Micky Ward was called up to join the full England squad for training ahead of Saturday's match against Australia.

Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the game, Australia coach Eddie Jones wants his side to match England's physicality at Twickenham and vowed: ''We will be brutal.''

A year ago this week, in the World Cup final, Australia attempted every trick in the book to disrupt England's superior scrum - delaying engagement, moving closer to reduce the force of England's tight five - and it worked.

Referee Andre Watson repeatedly penalised England and Elton Flatley booted the Wallabies back into the game from 14-5 down at the interval to force extra-time.

England coach Andy Robinson yesterday called for ''a real contest'' in the scrum - a comment aimed at both the Wallabies and New Zealand referee Paul Honiss, renowned for the way he officiates the set-piece and the breakdown.

Jones' response yesterday was unequivocal.

''Is there some accusation we are shying away from the physical part of the game by trying to be clever? We are not,'' he said.

''Rugby is a physical game. We will be just as brutal as England are aiming to be at us.

"There is a physical part of the game and we are not shying away from that.

''We will take the physicality of England and hopefully we will be able to use our skills.''

While Robinson made his feelings on the scrummage contest clear, Jones' own bugbear has always been the breakdown and he fired a riposte to the England camp, reminding them how eagle-eyed Honiss can be.

England's back row outplayed South Africa's much-vaunted trio in last weekend's 32-16 victory, but Jones warned: ''Honiss is the fastest referee in the world at the tackle and that is going to be important on Saturday."