Steffon Armitage has blown the battle for the England No7 jersey wide open after his masterclass in openside-flanker play helped London Irish give champions Wasps a rude awakening at the start of the new Guinness Premiership season.

Toby Booth's team were sharper and more decisive in just about every department at Twickenham and Armitage's effervescent display provided the catalyst for a 26-14 win.

The uncapped 22-year-old outshone his more illustrious opponents in the Wasps back row, with Tom Rees, James Haskell and Joe Worsley unable to live with the intensity Armitage brought to the field.

Interested onlookers among the crowd included England team manager Martin Johnson and forwards coach John Wells, both of whom could not help but be impressed by the youngster's tenacity at the breakdown.

Exiles lock Nick Kennedy also did his England prospects no harm with an imperious line-out display.

But it was Armitage who gained the plaudits from head coach Booth, who admitted he stoked the fires before the game by reminding him that England flanker Rees had something he wanted.

Booth said: "I'd be lying if I said I didn't mention that little battle to him beforehand. Part of the success of coaching is to highlight certain battles and Steffon was under no illusions about the battle he was in.

"He was outstanding. I pointed out to him that if you're going up against a player who has got what you want then you need to put down a marker. He did that, as did Nick Kennedy, winning his battle with Simon Shaw."

Armitage, who began his rugby life as a centre before being convinced by his father to move to openside, was unashamedly honest about where he drew his motivation.

He said: "I knew Haskell, Rees and Worsley were all ahead of me in the England pecking order. I always want to smash a guy who has my shirt at the moment. They have my shirt and I wanted to outplay them.

"I knew that if I got to the ruck first, carried the ball strongly and stole my ball then it doesn't matter how well he [Rees] was playing. I knew if I got to the ruck first I'd be beating him.

"We put a lot of pressure on them. We put pressure on Haskell and he made a few errors and he's one of their main ball carriers. That's what won us the game."

Armitage played his way on to the England Saxons tour at the end of last season.

After losing 10 kilos because he was "bored of being called fat", further England honours look certain to come his way sooner rather than later.

For Irish the season looks bright, with Booth relishing the head coach's role after taking over from Brian Smith.

Evergreen Mike Catt is in charge of coaching the backs, although the 36-year-old still has plenty to offer on the pitch if Saturday's efforts are anything to go by.

Well looked after by Armitage, the fly-half pulled the strings effortlessly before being substituted midway through the second half with his job done.

Chris Hala'ufia and Richard Thorpe scored the Exiles tries while the Australian full-backPeter Hewat slotted six kicks from six.

Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan described his team's performance as "substandard" but refused to push the panic button after seeing his team claim the title last year after winning only one of their opening six games.

Elsewhere in the Premiership, Butch James inspired Bath to an impressive 33-20 win at Bristol and Leicester won at Gloucester.

Northampton were 21-13 winners at home to Worcester in their first game back in the top flight and Sale claimed their first away win over relegation favourites Newcastle.