UPWARDLY mobile Miles Benjamin believes he would not have developed as quickly as he has at any club other than Worcester Warriors.

The free-scoring wing, who joined the Sixways academy 18 months ago, has made a string of impressive performances since breaking into Mike Ruddock's first XV this season.

The youngster's form has also been rewarded with a call-up to the England Under 20 squad for the forthcoming Six Nations tournament in Wales in June.

Despite beginning his Warriors career by breaking his fibula at the Middlesex Sevens in 2006, the Solihull-born flier has roared back to form and is now one of the hottest young properties in the Guinness Premiership.

With his feet firmly on the ground, Benjamin insists his success is all down to hard work and the way he has been nurtured by Worcester.

He said: "As a young player, you get a lot of input at this club - more so than I think I would at any other club. I feel I can really develop here and hopefully I can have a long career.

"Once I knew I was going to be training with the first team, I was determined to be competitive and have a positive impact on the squad.

"But, at the same time, I was keen to learn off people like Marcel Garvey, Thinus Delport and obviously Rico Gear now he has arrived. I realised they have a depth of experience I am not even close to.

"It would be difficult to drop back to the bench now - as much as I look up to the other guys in my positison, I am proud to wear the Worcester shirt.

"The mentoring with Rico is going brilliantly - it is not that formal and we only have a proper mentoring meeting once a month or so - but at the end of training he always talks to me about little aspects of my game that I can improve.

"It's not just Rico, though, the other wingers have been doing that with me for a while now."

Benjamin has been included in the England Under 20 squad with fellow Sixways rising stars Jonny Arr and Matt Cox and is hopeful the side can do well in the Six Nations.

He added: "It is more or less the same squad as the under 19s, but we didn't perform all that well at the World Championships last year, finishing fifth.

"Myself, Matt and Jonny were all involved last year and we now want to make up for that this year.

"Everyone dreams of going the whole way and playing for the full England team but at the moment, and I know it is a bit of a cliche, I'm taking things one step at a time."