Peel is one of the players Sir Clive Woodward was happy to admit would have been a certain starter had the first Test been on the day he named the squad. He was quite simply the stand-out scrum-half in Six Nations 2005.

A typically combative Welsh number nine, the Llanelli man has finally stepped out of the shadows of the legendary Rob Howley to become his country's first-choice number nine.

Peel made his debut against Japan in 2001 but showed real nerves on his early international appearances and had to wait until the autumn of 2003 to really make his breakthrough after allowing Gareth Cooper to overtake him in the pecking order.

Indeed it is a testament to Peel's ability that a scrum-half as good as Cooper - the most likely back-up to Peel on this tour - has been reduced to a bit-part role on the international stage.

Quick and athletic and never afraid to snipe around the fringes, Peel is also an excellent passer with good vision and the innate knowledge to know when to run and when to pass.

Already one of the brightest prospects in the Welsh game, at the age of 23 he can only get better and could well end this summer as one of the stars of the tour.