England will unleash one of the fastest back-three units in the history of the game against Australia on Saturday after Jonny May revealed he had just clocked a sprint record that was faster than Usain Bolt’s average speed when the Jamaican set his 100 metre world record.

May was in a state of shock after he recorded a personal best of 10.49 metres per second in a 40-metre speed test last Saturday, which would equate to a time of 9.53 seconds over 100 metres. Bolt’s world record is 9.58 seconds, which he set in 2009.

May’s effort is all the more remarkable given that he did it during a rehabilitation run at Twickenham early last Saturday morning to test that he had made a full recovery from the hamstring strain that kept him out of the victory over Argentina. “I was gobsmacked because I had just tweaked my hammy the week before,” said May. “It was a rehab run. I didn’t think I would go anywhere that fast. I knew I had to run flat out to test it. I was pretty nervous but it was fine. And I ran quick as well and it was a bonus.”

May, who has scored nine tries in eight games for Leicester this season, put his time down to what he called his “OCD” conditioning work – which includes up to four hours of stretching every day.