Ben Morgan looks ahead to the Six Nations with England (From Gazette Series)

Ben Morgan looks ahead to the Six Nations with England

9:18am Thursday 26th January 2012 in Gloucestershire Sport By Rob Iles

BEN MORGAN will not fear entering the Murrayfield cauldron if he is handed his England debut in the Six Nations opener in Scotland.

The 22-year-old from Kingswood has enjoyed a meteoric rise since leaving Dursley Rugby Club three-and-a-half years ago and met up with the England squad for their training camp in Leeds this week, but he is continuing to take things in his stride.

Morgan has never represented England at youth level, although he was due to go on a training camp with the under-20s in Portugal before suffering an injury the day before flying out, and he turned down the chance to play for the Saxons last summer to allow his body time to recover from a brutal first full season with the Scarlets.

But the powerful No 8 insists he will be ready if he is thrown straight into the deep end to face Scotland in front of a full and vociferous crowd when the tournament begins on Saturday, February 4.

“I think any one of those 15 guys on the field will give their all and if I’m lucky enough to be in the selection I will give it my best and hope to perform,” he told the Gazette.

“I don’t think there is any replication to playing in front of a packed stadium and hopefully that will be something for me to look forward to.

“There is a lot of hard work between getting in the squad and getting on the field, so my main focus is on training hard and making the right impression.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity, they’re a great bunch of guys and I’m looking forward to it.”

Morgan has become one of England’s most talked about up-and-coming talents since he declared his allegiance to his native country over Wales, who he qualified for on residency rules.

The former Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School pupil was in Gloucestershire for a surprise 50th birthday party for his step mum Debbie at Slimbridge Football Club when he got the call from England’s interim head coach Stuart Lancaster.

“I was a bit lost for words really,” he said. “I was pleased and excited.

“The whole reason I put anything out there was to say ‘don’t forget about me because I play in Wales’, but I was really surprised and it still hasn’t sunk in.

“I’ve always wanted to play for England. When I was younger, I watched England and that was the dream, so I’m really pleased to be taking the right step.”

There is bound to be a lot of attention on Morgan if he plays against Wales at Twickenham later next month, but the prospect of coming up against club-mates such as Matthew Rees, Jonathan Davies and George North is one that excites him.

He said: “I think it will be a different experience having played with a lot of them at the Scarlets, but it is an opportunity I will relish if given the chance.”

No matter how much international rugby Morgan plays over the next two months, it seems unlikely he will forget his roots.

He has spoken to his former youth coach at Dursley Phil Sprague on a few occasions since his international call-up.

Morgan said: “I try to pop into the club when I’m in the area and try to keep in contact. I really like the guys down there.”

He was also delighted to join up with former Dursley team-mate Charlie Sharples again at the England camp.

Morgan added: “He’s been playing really well for Gloucester and deserves his call-up.”