Twenty years ago a London-Nigerian, Chris Oti, played his first match for England at Twickenham. It was the final game in the 1988 Five Nations Championship and in their three previous matches England had not scored a try, but that afternoon Oti blasted holes in the Irish defence and the floodgates opened. The left wing scored three tries. Merry no doubt from their pregame refreshments or perhaps fired up by Oti’s derring-do, a group of students from the now defunct Benedictine school, Douai Abbey, broke into song every time England looked like scoring. They rattled off the anthem of the school’s first XV, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and a new kind of gospel singing had taken root in west London.

While the rest of the world may never forgive Oti for what he inflicted upon them, the significance of his performance transcended the song. He was the first black player to represent England since James Peters in 1907 and the flag bearer for a Nigerian community that would have a significant impact on English rugby over the following 10 years. Five years later, Andrew Harriman would captain England to win the inaugural World Cup Sevens. Three other English Nigerians - Victor Ubogu, Steve Ojomoh and Adedayo Adebayo - went on to win almost 50 caps between them. The Nigerian tradition continues today with Topsy Ojo playing his first match for England. At 22, he makes his Twickenham debut at the same age Oti made his.

Today’s match against the Barbarians may turn out to be more occasion than contest but, from an English viewpoint, it is good preparation for this month’s tour to New Zealand. For Ojo, it is an occasion of great significance. He has played just two full seasons in the Premiership but has been one of the competition’s more exciting attackers. Last summer, he was picked as a late replacement for England’s tour to South Africa but didn’t get to play.

His form with London Irish through the second half of this season was seriously impressive and it was no surprise that he was selected to tour New Zealand.

“The first step was to get picked in the squad for New Zealand. You do that and as you are one of just three out-and-out wingers; myself, [Paul] Sackey and [David] Strettle, you think, ‘There’s no reason why I can’t be involved in one or both of the Tests against the All Blacks’. But you have to do well in the Barbarians match.”

For Ojo, the day comes with no guarantees. Judge him on the last three months of the season and there are no worries. He is a quick, elusive and well-balanced runner and he defends well. Time and again, he found chinks in the Toulouse defence during London Irish’s narrow defeat in the Heineken Cup semi-final and he looked every bit as good as the stars in the opposition’s back-line. Then, he was an England wing in the making.

He had been far less noticeable through the first half of the season. The turning point came in mid-February when London Irish beat Leicester at the Madejski stadium. From there, Ojo produced the best rugby of his career through the final weeks of the season. “Even now, it is weird to try to pinpoint what had been wrong. Things just weren’t going my way. I might make a break, someone else would get the try and I couldn’t get near the targets I had set myself. It was frustrating because there were times I couldn’t get my hands on the ball, but then the Leicester game came round, I played okay and that was pivotal. I don’t know if I was taking up better positions or if I just became more demanding, but that game triggered something.”

The team’s director of rugby, Brian Smith, spoke to him in the days beforehand, emphasising his faith in him but complaining that the team wasn’t getting enough from him. Ojo is mild-mannered by nature and silently wondered if the dressing-down in the lead-up to such a big game might not be counterproductive.

The vindication of the coach’s approach was in the player’s performance.

You can imagine Ojo feeling a little raw after a heart-to-heart with a displeased coach. He came to rugby with values instilled by his Nigerian parents. Akin, his dad, is a thoracic surgeon; Bola, his mum, is a lawyer who became a home-maker and immersed herself in voluntary work as the family’s three boys grew older.

You ask what he remembers from a childhood that began in Golders Green, north London, took in almost three years in the Nigerian capital, Lagos, resumed English life in Colchester before settling in Sidcup, Kent. “Chaos, more than anything,” he says but the reflection comes with a smile and if the chaos came wrapped in love, could it really be called chaos? “Growing up as a black kid in England, I was never conscious of that. The neighbourhoods were safe, we had a nice house and there were lots of family and friends from back home who lived near us. The three years in Nigeria were enjoyable, school there was a bit more demanding. They put more emphasis on education than here. In the end we returned to England because my dad was spending a lot of time toing and froing back to do operations here and, as a family, we could be more settled in England.”

Ojo was 10 when he returned to England and not that long afterwards, he followed his older brother Babs to Dartford Grammar school and was introduced to rugby. His parents insisted that formal education wouldn’t suffer because of rugby and, after doing A-levels, Ojo earned a place at the University of London. It was then that London Irish offered him the chance ofa career in rugby.

He deferred college for a year, joined the club’s academy, then deferred for another year. “I was always leaning towards rugby but I didn’t want to disappoint my parents. I didn’t want to bin university completely.” Ojo is now in the second year of a law degree at Birkbeck College, combining studies and sport ina way that keeps him stretched and his parents pleased. He is also learning that exams tend to coincide with summer tours to the southern hemisphere.

He will get there. Another corporate lawyer? “I can’t see it. More likely I will follow in my mum’s footsteps. She’s working with the World Health Organisation. She recently went to Burkina Faso, where water is pretty much nonexistent. I dropped her at the airport and when I picked her up, I said, ‘I thought you went with two suitcases?’ She said, ‘I did but I just had to leave one’. If I was doing law just to make a lot of money, she would give me a clip around the ear.”

Before his law career, there is the prospect of his England career. This afternoon should be okay but New Zealand will be a tough place for a young man who has played just two full seasons in the Premiership. Still, he’s got skill and he’s got pace, he is bright and he’s brave and he knows how to tackle. At the very least, he’s got a chance.