In choosing a sportsman to represent his country, the only criterion should be his performance now. Nothing else should count — not education, colour of eyes, colour of skin, language, not even age, certainly not age.

If you are good enough to play, better than all others available in your position, then your age is right. Obviously the body's passage through life and the bangs a rugby player takes count, but basically if you are good enough you are the right age. If you are good enough you are old enough — or young enough.

Much has been made of the arrival of Danny Cipriani in the England team — hailed as the new saviour of England's rugby, the new Jonny Wilkinson. Such a cruel tag to put on a young player — the new Jonny Wilkinson. They are different people.

Jonny was 18 when he first played for England, Danny 20. Jonny's age was a seven-day wonder and soon forgotten. Danny's age sticks to him, often as an excuse for a poor performance or for wayward behaviour. Was Jonny's behaviour ever wayward? He was better known for the dull work of hours of practice rather than late hours in questionable places. They are different people. They play differently for one thing.

No, Danny is not the new Jonny. He is also not the new Dan Carter or new Rob Andrew or new Barry John or new Cliff Morgan or new Adrian Stoop — or new anybody else. But let's stick to this age thing.

Danny and Jonny both played for England age-group sides. Dan Carter did not do that, but he was 21 when he first played for New Zealand. When Canterbury chose him he was 20 and eyebrows were raised in surprise. He played outside Andrew Mehrtens for a while and then moved into Mehrtens's slot. Maybe that gradual introduction helped, but the truth is probably that Carter's talent and character are such that he could have done it straightaway.

Rob Andrew was also 20 and went on to have a long and glorious career. Barry John was 21 and they made him King Barry in the Principality. Cliff Morgan was 20 when he first played flyhalf for Wales. That first day he learnt a valuable lesson.

His opponent for Ireland was the great Jackie Kyle, the genius, the best flyhalf of his time and this year inducted into the IRB's Hall of Fame. Morgan watched him like a hawk. The great man kicked and passed and kicked and passed — and then broke inside Morgan and scored the match's only try, the one that won the match.

Danny, so talented, has had two bad matches for England, the second worse than the first — humiliatingly worse. If for him humiliation can lead to humility he may well be able to gain from the experience and go on to a great career.

Not everybody who starts young develops. That is the warning. Jannie Barnard played flyhalf for South Africa at the age of 20 but not after that. He was cruelly referred to as the "youngest ex-Springbok".

People are different. Asked once what talents he had that enabled him to play for Wales, Cliff Morgan, in that wonderful singing voice of his, said: "God gave me a big backside, short legs and pigeon toes and said: 'Morgan, go and play outside half for Wales'."

Not everybody's development happens at the same rate. Jan Pickard and John Williams were backs at school and played lock for South Africa. Pieter Rossouw who became a great Springbok three-quarter did not play for Paarl Gim's 1st XV.

As builds and development differ, so temperaments differ. Big match temperament is so important. Tony Greig was an unremarkable provincial cricketer but a great international captain.

The upper reaches of age are also irrelevant. When Ned Hughes of New Zealand played against South Africa in 1921 he was over 40. His previous Test had been in 1908! Using old men did not happen only in ancient times when the game was slower. Johan Ackermann was 37 when he played for South Africa in the fast and furious games of 2007. Deon Lötter made his Test debut when he was over 35. No doubt Ackermann and Lötter were chosen because they were the best men for the job and their age did not matter.

Beware of those who use team-building as an excuse for failure. Test matches should be so precious that we always choose our best teams. Sadly they have now been devalued and are glorified trial matches of match practices while every four years the "real" thing happens at the World Cup.

There should just not be age caps anywhere in rugby. It's discriminatory. Western Province has an upper age-limit of 70 for administrators. I ask you. Nelson Mandela was 76 when he was elected President of South Africa, Pope Benedict XVI was 78 when he was elected pope. Raymond Ackerman is 77 and he runs one of the world's best-run chain stores. John McCain was 72 when he ran for the presidency of the "greatest nation on earth". Nelson Mandela, Pope Benedict XVI, Raymond Ackerman and John McCain would not be allowed to serve on the executive of the Western Province RFU!

It's not about how young you are or how old you are but what you can do. The best thing Danny Cipriani can do is play — work and play.

What do you think? Does age matter, should it matter? Let us know what YOU think by leaving a comment below!