Instinctive Newcastle fly-half Louie Johnson has set his sights on breaking into the Falcons first team after finishing his final tournament with England U20s.
Johnson, 20, has made 11 appearances across the last two years for England U20s and after being frustrated by an underwhelming set of results in the Six Nations, he believes the group will be in good hands under new head coach Mark Mapletoft.
He said: “My experience in England U20s has been alright. We've felt frustrated with results and previous performances in the last couple Six Nations. We feel we've got a really talented group of players, who if we can click in the right way can go on to perform and do really good things.
“In the short period we've had Tofty (Mark Mapletoft) as new head coach we've clicked and we've now got a new playing style. We've put some good stuff together in a short period of time and have built as a group really well.”
Johnson is a product of the Newcastle academy and has made four appearances in the Premiership Cup in the last two seasons scoring eight points.
Newcastle's coaching department has been chopped and changed with Scott Baldwin brought in as defence coach and former England lock Alex Codling taking over as head coach.
Johnson feels it's an exciting time at the club and hopes to break his way into the first team over the course of the next 12 months.
He added: “I've learnt a lot since being at Newcastle. There's been a lot of changes going on at the club with lots of big players and coaches coming in and out. It's good to have a different environment with different people to learn off. There's a lot of people willing to help and I've had some great experiences in the Premiership Cup with some tough wins and also defeats, where I've learnt a lot of tough lessons from those games. The new head coach Alex Codling is really good, has some great ideas and looks like he'll build a really good culture.
“My goal is to break into the first team and try and get a few more appearances, competing with the guys ahead of me for a starting place. I feel like I'm developing and I can do that. It would be great to have an influence on the club moving forward under the new coach.”
A running-based 10 who likes to take his chances, Johnson is focusing on improving his game management and control of the team.
He said: “Adult rugby is a bit different, and I've learned to play the percentages a tiny bit more but I still back myself to take chances when it's on. My vision and ability to take space quicker than other people is my super strength.
“The biggest thing I've been working on is managing the game and managing the team, knowing what the team needs to grind out a win. I'm making small adjustments to how we want to play and where we put people to get the desired results.
“Owen Farrell has been the biggest idol for me and I'm inspired by his commitment and drive to win. I was asked a couple years ago who I play most similar to and like Beauden Barrett, one of my biggest strengths is to break the line, so I watch him a lot and look where he makes his line breaks from to try and emulate that. A balance between those two which wouldn't be the worst combination.”
