Jack Singleton has called his first starts for Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup as “awesome” – even if he admits they came as a surprise.
The former Harpenden Rugby Club junior made his first start in the 31-25 Anglo-Welsh win over Bristol last month and kept his place for the next fixture against Wasps.
His performances persuaded the Warriors management to include him in the Aviva Premiership squad.
A place on the bench, and his debut, followed against Northampton Saints before the 21-year-old started against Exeter Chiefs.
And while the result wasn’t what he would have wanted, Chiefs winning 57-22, Singleton was still immensely pleased with his achievement.
He said: “I was injured a couple of months ago and got just eight minutes off the bench against the Russian side.
“But to now be starting in the Premiership and making my debut the week before that, it’s all gone pretty fast.
“It’s been enjoyable and getting my debut in the Premiership was a pretty massive moment for me.
Singleton, who won the U20 World Rugby Championship with England in the summer, was hoping this would be the year he would force his way into Worcester’s side.
However, he didn’t expect it to be so quick.
“I set a goal that I wanted to push on as for as I could go [this season] but I didn’t really set any targets,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to get a start in the Premiership, I was looking more at Europe and the AW Cup.
“You always have to be ready but it was still a surprise.
“I was a bit fortunate with Jaba [Bregvadze] being away [with Georgia] and Val [Rapava Ruskin] got injured which meant I was pushed into the fray. It was awesome and it was great to play at that level.
“Feedback has been positive. I work quite closely with Mefin Davies and obviously with a lot of the other young boys doing really well this season, they haven’t hesitated to put others into the mix. So when the opportunity came about, they weren’t scared about putting me in and seeing how I went.”
I got to make my debut alongside Andrew Kitchener who I played with in the World Cup and who I live with at the moment so that was quite special to play with someone you get on with.
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