Joe Jenkins made a huge impact on his professional debut last week scoring a brace for Bristol in the Premiership Cup and the outside centre is hungry for more game time.
The 18-year-old, who was delighted to play the full 80 minutes in Bristol's 35-20 defeat against Exeter, said: “I was very pleased with that, it was really nice to get my professional debut at Ashton Gate in front of family and friends.
“Although we didn't get the win it was still nice to get that opportunity. I'm looking forward to the next one when it comes and taking it with both hands and making sure I do as well as I can.”
Jenkins attended England U18s camps last year but is still yet to make an international appearance due to an ACL injury that ruled him out of last season's Academy League with Bristol as well as the Six Nations.
He said: “It was frustrating missing out on playing but I enjoyed coming together with boys from different academies and getting to know different players. In the Academy League you're stuck playing all the teams from the south, so you don't know any of the boys from the north but in the England camps you're fully mixed in with each other and it's good to meet new people.”
Jenkins is both English and Welsh qualified and joined Dragons RFC from Monmouth School for Boys in Wales.
He was released by the Welsh region after failing to make their U16s squad but was offered a trial at Bristol and has remained with the club since.
Jenkins is now the understudy of experienced centre Piers O'Conor and loves being involved in Bristol's professional environment and learning from all the top players. He said: “I've really enjoyed it so far, working with Pat Lam and understanding the way he coaches. It's not something that many people get to do and I'm enjoying how it's unfolded so far and hopefully it continues how it is at the moment.
“It's been really helpful working with Piers. He's been explaining the game to me from a centre's point of view and what to look out for, which has helped me pick up the game plan and develop much quicker.”
The start to this season's Premiership has seen tries aplenty with every team on average scoring over 20 points per game.
Jenkins believes the sport and the league are in a great place, and hopes to make his mark in the Premiership soon.
“It does seem like rugby's in a pretty good place as more people are wanting to play it and are enjoying the sport,” he said. “Although some rules are a bit confusing, it seems the majority of people are still really enjoying rugby. In the Premiership the game's have been high scoring and that's what a lot of people want to see as a neutral. So, in that sense it's in a good place and I'd love to play in the league soon.”
