Bristol Bears second row Charlie Rice is living the dream playing for the club he supported as a boy and is desperate to push on and make his Premiership debut.
The physical, uncompromising lock is another standout player from Bristol's academy conveyer belt.
Rice made his Premiership Cup debut last season against Worcester Warriors in round two, followed by another appearance in round five against Gloucester.
The Bristol-born lock describes running out at Ashton Gate as a dream come true and hopes for more appearances this season.
He said: “To have all my family and friends come and being able to go out and play for my local boyhood club was very special. Everything I'd worked for had slowly paid off. To be able to run out with all the bigger names was just incredible.
“I've always been a big Bristol fan, from as long as I can remember our family have always gone down and watched the Bears. Every little boy's rugby dream is to play for the team they support, so I genuinely feel like I'm living the dream every day.
“If you can find a job that you love doing you've made it and that's what I feel like I'm doing now. I'm trying to soak up as much as I can and try to progress and grow as far as I can.
“My next big goal is to get some game time for the first team in the Premiership.”
The 20-yearold is a huge presence standing 6ft 5ins and weighing 18 st 2lbs but Rice believes he needs to continue to pack on the pounds.
He said: “I still quite struggle with my upper body, so one of my big work ons is to pack on some size as physically my body is a lot smaller compared to the other locks at Bristol.”
Rice idolises Bristol legend Joe Joyce, who is leaving for Connacht at the end of next season. Rice hopes to have a long career at Bristol and make over 100 appearances.
He said: “Joyce is who I aspire to be like when I'm older. He's Bristol through and through and is a great bloke and a good rugby player. He's worked his way through Bristol and I want to go down that route and stay at the club for as long as I can.”
Rice made his longawaited international debut as he appeared in this year's U20s Six Nations making three appearances as England finished third.
England U20s head coach Alan Dickens is clearly a big fan of Rice with the lock making three further appearances in the recent Summer Series.
He added: “I played this year, and it wasn't the best of campaigns for us but it's a huge honour to represent England. When I was younger for U18s we were meant to play Scotland and I got to the airport and put our luggage on and then got a text saying don't get on as Covid has cancelled it. Going from that and playing for England this year has been a massive privilege.
“I can't really explain what it felt like. I didn't think it would be that emotional but it's a massive sense of achievement that all came flooding out after my first game.”
