England U20s flanker Tristan Woodman has envisioned his side lifting the Six Nations title after winning three from three so far in the tournament.
Alan Dickens’ side secured narrow victories at home to Scotland and Italy before comfortably seeing off Wales, and despite facing France and Ireland in the coming weeks Woodman – who made his U20s debut in the see-saw 41-36 win over Scotland – is confident they can go all the way.
He said: “I’d love to keep developing and make my Premiership debut but very shortterm I’d love to win the Six Nations title. I’m very positive and I believe. The next job is France but I’ve envisioned winning it.
“In the Scotland game I was just full of adrenaline and nerves but I thought the performance was unreal. All of us that came off the bench added a bounce to the game. The first 20 minutes was ridiculous, I thought to myself it was going to be 80-60 at the rate the game was going. Scotland really pushed us when they clawed back in the second half and got ahead but to pull through as a team with a win was massive in what was a mental game.”
The 19-year-old Sale back row was invited to visit the England senior side recently and despite being unable to participate in training, Woodman relished picking up tips from his heroes. “I was fortunate to be invited down to the Lensbury and visit the senior boys, it was a bit surreal but amazing nonetheless,” said Woodman.
“The environment was very positive which I loved. I picked up a little niggle against Exeter, so I wasn’t able to train and was on the side watching with Courtney Lawes, and he was really good in making sure I wasn’t lost in the speed of it. He was telling me why people were doing things and why certain people were doing things in my position.
“Ben (Curry) was there and as I’ve learned a lot from Ben at the club, he was very happy to help me and explain. I also picked up a lot from Ben Earl, watching him at Saracens I think he’s unreal but witnessing in person the lines that he runs is something I now want to replicate.”
Dynamic forward Woodman, who made his Sharks debut last month in the Premiership Cup semi-final defeat away at Exeter Chiefs, is a threat over the ball with his supreme jackaling ability. He said: “I never thought my debut would be a start and going down to Sandy Park and seeing my name on the team sheet and on the back of my shirt made me speechless. It’s a shame we didn’t get the win but it was an amazing experience.
“The strongest part of my game is definitely my jackal. I find getting over the ball very satisfying. I’m very firmly against banning it like some people are suggesting, it wouldn’t help me at all but I understand why people want to get rid of it with the dangers but I choose to do it and I enjoy it.
“I got to speak to Jack Willis in camp and there’s a lot of detail that I didn’t realise in his jackaling, and scrum wise as well I learned a lot from him. Speaking to him about France it was interesting to hear how different it is to how Wasps was.”
