Warriors Academy hooker Jack Singleton admits he has learnt a lot from his summer Down Under with Saracens RFC in New Zealand.
The youngster enjoyed a fine campaign helping guide his side to the North Canterbury Division One title, while on a personal level he scooped the award for North Canterbury Under 19 Player of the Year.
Furthermore, Singleton made the North Canterbury and Canterbury Country Senior representative squads, and also travelled to Australia as part of the North Canterbury squad playing in the Southbridge Challenge match against Ellesmere.
On his time in New Zealand, Singleton said: “Despite being jet-lagged, we were straight into the action on the first weekend coming off the bench and after that the guys made it pretty easy to settle in.”
Singleton, along with fellow Academy star Sam Ripper-Smith, played 13 games for Saracens and was on the losing side just once.
He also went on to feature twice for North Canterbury and admitted: “It was great to get the chance to play at a high standard for North Canterbury, especially against New South Wales Country in Brisbane.
“The game down there was a lot faster and I picked up my skills and improved my decision-making.
“A lot of play was off the cuff so we had to learn quickly and the rucks were intense too.
“Hopefully the experience and bits I’ve learned from my time down in New Zealand will stand me in good stead for this season.”
And during his three months Down Under, Singleton revealed it was an experience he’ll never forget.
He explained: “We stayed in a small townhouse in the countryside. Pretty much all the players were nearby so it was good for the social side of things.
“We went to Queenstown and rented a campervan to travel round the South Island and down to Milford Sound which was beautiful, while we also went to Kaikoura to see seals and some of the marine wildlife.
“We also got to see Richie McCaw’s last game at Christchurch for the Crusaders against the Reds in Super Rugby.
“The whole time was just a fantastic and unforgettable experience.”
After playing for Saracens RFC in New Zealand, Singleton last weekend took on Aviva Premiership champions Saracens back on home soil playing for Warriors in a pre-season clash.
And he admitted he was delighted to pull on the new jersey.
He continued: “It was great to finally run out for Warriors and to wear the new kit.
“It was a tough game against one of the league’s top sides but it was a learning curve, especially for a lot of us younger guys. It’s just the kind of test we need before the new season.”
Singleton, who featured for Worcester Cavaliers in their run to the Aviva A League final last season, has international targets during this campaign with England Under 20s.
He added: “I want to get some more time in the Aviva A League this year and hopefully we can have another successful campaign like the last one.
“I also want to play in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship for England in 2016.
“I’ve got a training camp at the end of the month and I’m involved in that, so hopefully I can push on and stake my claim for a place in the Under 20 Six Nations squad first.
“I’ve been working closely with Mefin Davies and the coaching team at Warriors to help with scrummaging and lineouts because that’s an area I felt I needed to improve.
“Now I just want to really improve my game and put pressure on the hookers above me so we’re driving standards at the Club.”