Luke learning all the time at US camp

Exeter Chiefs starlet Luke Cowan-Dickie insists that the threat of being cut from England’s World Cup squad has done nothing to dampen spirits within the training camp.

Four hookers remain in Stuart Lancaster’s 45-man line-up that travelled to Denver in the US for high-altitude fitness training, and despite being yet to earn his first cap for the Red Rose, the 22-year-old is being tipped to make the final 31 come the end of August.

Cowan-Dickie played himself into contention in a strong Premiership season for the Chiefs – scoring two tries in 14 appearances for Rob Baxter’s side. And he now faces a shoot-out with Saracens’ Jamie George and the experienced duo of Tom Youngs and Rob Webber to be part of Stuart Lancaster's main squad.

The highly-rated youngster admits that the opportunity to be back in the England set-up is one he is making the most of – especially after being sent home from last summer’s New Zealand tour early with a knee injury.

“It’s a great experience to play and train with all the guys who have been there before and are the best in their positions in the country,” he said. “It’s not really that strange an atmosphere knowing you’re competing against the other guys at your position.

“You’re just trying to train as hard as you can and you don’t really look at it as competitive or trying to get ahead of this guy or that guy – If you're lucky enough to be selected then you’re lucky enough to be selected.

“We’re all friends. It’s the first time I’ve really spoken to Jamie George and we’re getting on really well. We don’t look at it as a competition so it’s a good atmosphere in the camp and all the boys have been sticking together.

“I’m definitely learning off the other guys. Having moved to hooker, being around quality hookers is good like Tom and Rob and Jamie. It’s good to get in there and ask them about line-outs and stuff. We do extra throwing stuff at the end of the day which I think is really key for me, so it’s going well and hopefully it can continue.”

Moving straight into the England set-up proved a welcome distraction for Cowan-Dickie after a disappointing end to the season with Exeter, with the Chiefs missing out on a Premiership semi-final spot on the final day of the season and going down to Saracens in the LV= Cup final.

And while his team-mates are already underway with a rigorous pre-season schedule of their own, Cowan-Dickie believes consistency will be the key if the Chiefs are to go one step further next term.

He added: “It was a little bit disappointing to miss out on the top four, especially right at the end. If you look back there were games we won that you thought were great wins, but then there were a few against other sides that we thought we should have won.

“But that’s how it goes, so I think towards the end we were a bit disappointed but I think if you reflect on it, hopefully we can improve next year and build on it.

“We need to perform well through the whole season and not just the big games – it’s about that consistency. We seem to be consistent for a few games and then maybe drop off for one and then have the hit of thinking ‘flip, we lost a game we should have won’ and then upping the performance levels again.

“It’s about keeping it on the same level and it’s great to see who Rob has signed - that will give us depth in the squad and push us in the right direction.”

Luke Cowan-Dickie was appearing alongside his England team-mates at the launch of the innovative England Rugby World Cup shirt #CommittedtoEngland. Visit www.Canterbury.com