Paul Sackey is keen to get something straight. “I don’t hate rugby. I loved football when I was growing up and rugby, when I was young, came second. But I don’t hate rugby,” he says. “I love it. I’m very happy with the choice I made. I don’t hate rugby.” The London Wasps and England wing smiles when he says it, but he is at pains to clarify that he is immensely proud of his achievements. “I always believed I have taken the right path and made the right decision for me,” he says.

Sackey was a revelation at last year’s World Cup, ending as England’s leading try-scorer and earning plaudits for the growth in his all-round game, but despite having earned a reputation early in his career for being rather laid-back, he is approaching the Six Nations with fire in his belly, even though his preparations for today’s first match were set back by a bout of mumps.

“Whatever I do I try and give it 100 per cent. I don’t think I am first choice on the wing and though I had a good tournament, I can’t rest on that. I’ve been working hard,” he says. The prospect of England shaking off the disappointment of the final excites him and he believes that if the squad shows the same intensity as in France, they will do well. “Brian Ashton has picked a nice mix of experience and raw talent,” he says. And what about Lesley Vainikolo?

Sackey smiles. “He is an amazing talent. He is a hard guy to stop and he breaks tackles. He is unpredictable and causes teams problems. It’s going to be nice seeing him pulling the shirt on,” he says. “Obviously not in my position, though.”

The inclusion of Vainikolo is the latest indication that England rugby is changing, on and off the field. Sackey himself is not your typical rugby player: he is a cool, streetwise, South London guy. Is he the poster boy for appealing to the many potential fans who may feel disenfranchised from rugby?

“I don’t see myself as that. I see myself as me. But yes, I know I am different. Maybe that was the reason I didn’t at first get on with the England coaches: because I was different. I was a little bit more cool, a bit more street — I was down with everything. I think that was my downfall and I realised that, so I have held back. I’m still the same sort of person, but I’ve learnt at Wasps, because that’s a team full of off-the-wall guys, everyone is different. Shaun Edwards calls us the orphanage.”

Sackey pauses. “You know, I think appealing to a whole new area of fans is a nice thing. I am trying to bring people in who have not been watching rugby. I’m hoping to bring a different perspective on the sport. It’s nice when people on the street congratulate me.”

As if on cue, a customer in the Lamborghini dealership in Chelsea where we are talking — car-sourcing is a business Sackey is building up for when his playing days are over — breaks off from looking at a £150,000 car to shake Sackey’s hand. He goes away with a signed ball, photograph and a new car. As unique selling points go, having an England player in your showroom is an impressive one.

Sackey provides City boys, sportsmen — anyone — with the full car-buying service. “If someone wants a Lamborghini, then I phone up and get the car for them to test-drive. I sort out insurance, finance, any in-car entertainment they want — the whole package.”

He has worked hard on building relationships with manufacturers and can provide his clients with a better and quicker service than they might get if they walked into a dealership off the street. It was an idea that came to him when he tried to buy a car himself.

“I went into one showroom straight from training — I was in my tracksuit — and I said ‘I’d like that car please.’ The guy kept fobbing me off, telling me to come back when I could afford it. I was disgusted. I told him to get the manager. ‘I am the manager,’ he said. So I bought a car from another dealership and came back to prove I’d had the money all along. They fussed round me then, saying, ‘Oh Mr Sackey, we are really sorry, if there’s anything we can do next time . . .’ I told them I wouldn’t be coming back.” Like he said, 100 per cent is everything.