After being in and out of the England squad throughout the Six Nations, Eddie Jones gave London Irish wing Ollie Hassell-Collins a clear message about what he needs to do to break into his side.
“He told me to trust my size and trust my power, try and be the hardest person to tackle in the league,” Hassell-Collins tells Standard Sport. “That was a big thing he wanted to get across to me.
“It was awesome being in camp, I loved every minute of it. There was so much I learnt, but ultimately it was the intensity and the quality of training, how high it has to be consistently, that I took away.
“I think that is something I definitely need to bring back to Irish to push and grow this group.”
Hassell-Collins has certainly been following Jones’ advice so far this season and the wing is second in the Premiership when it comes to clean breaks made.
At 6ft 4ins and just under 100kg, the 23-year-old often takes some stopping and it seems inevitable he will make his international debut soon - not least because England are crying out for some size in their backline.
For now Hassell-Collins is thriving at London Irish, who have become one of the Premiership’s most attacking sides this term.
They have made the Brentford Community Stadium arguably the most entertaining place to watch rugby in the country, and that will particularly be the case on Saturday when they host Northampton Saints in their annual St Patrick’s Day game.
“We had the Bath game last year, which was a bit disappointing to have behind closed doors,” says Hassell-Collins. “I think this one, especially against a side like Northampton, is going to be massive.
“We moved in at the perfect time and we are building something. In the dressing room, we have got a lot of overseas players, but we have created a brotherhood.
“We do see each other outside of the club and we’ve made that a big part of trying to get those connections with each other. It makes it not so cliquey, which has been really good.”
The bond in the squad is easy to see, with Hassell-Collins affectionally dubbed ‘The Grinch’ by his team-mates - “apparently I look like him?!” - and they spend plenty of time off the pitch together.
Hassell-Collins has been a gift for Irish, the latest product from their academy to thrive in the first team, and has benefited from working with coaches like James Lightfoot-Brown and Dec Danaher during his whole career.
The wing has gone the extra mile, though, paying out of his own pocket to work with a sprint coach at SpeedWorks in Loughborough, so he can emulate the players he looked up to as a youngster.
“Jason Robinson was one of the best English wingers, with his speed and what he was able to do out of nothing,” says Hassell-Collins.
“I watched a lot of Shaun Johnson in the NRL. I liked his and Robinson’s footwork and what they create using their feet. To try and emulate that as much as possible is pretty cool.”
Hassell-Collins’ fine season has coincided with Irish flying high and they are sat sixth ahead of Saturday’s clash. Exeter in fourth are just three points away and the prospect of making the Premiership semi-finals is a real possibility.
“If you look at this season, anyone can beat anyone,” he says. “It is definitely going to go down to the last week to see who finishes in the top four.
“We are just taking it game by game and we don’t want to force anything.
“But I think we are definitely starting to prove, not just to our fans, but to other supporters that we are going to be a top team in the future, if not this season.
“Ultimately we want to excite the crowd and play some entertaining rugby.”
