Having had a taste of playing for England, Nick Isiekwe wants the full feast - and the Saracens lock is determined to do whatever it takes to earn a swift return to the international stage.

The 20-year-old, who has drawn comparisons to teammate Maro Itoje, won his caps for the Red Rose in 2017 after being called up by Eddie Jones for the two-Test series in Argentina.

He made his third appearance for his country against South Africa but was hauled off before half-time in Johannesburg due to a tactical switch and has not featured for his country since.

But Isiekwe was brought into the training squad for the Six Nations and admits the fire in his belly is burning stronger than ever to meet the standards Jones demands from his players.

“It’s invaluable being around the England squad and seeing how they operate, it makes you push yourself and it shows you how you need to raise your standards in everyday training,” he said, speaking on behalf of Land Rover

“When you go back to the club you have to make sure you’re pushing standards and I’m trying to do that as much as I can, but it shows you the standard you need to be at.

“It’s good insight and Eddie always tells me the things I need to work on and I’ll try and intertwine that into my club game and keep on trying to progress and get better.

“I have to keep pushing and helping myself to progress, keep on being vigilant in my game and seeing the things that I need to improve and working on them.

“I don’t like to put too much pressure on myself, I just know I need to get better. That’s at the forefront of my mind, I need to keep working on things I’ve been told I need to work on.

“That’s always my number one goal, just to get better, and not to be too hard on myself. I think putting pressure on yourself is something you don’t need.

“I try not to put too much pressure on myself and just try and play and put the things I need to get right into place, that’s my main goal and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Isiekwe was speaking as he and fellow Premiership Rugby players from Saracens and Harlequins were leading a coaching session on behalf of Land Rover at Beaconsfield RFC, putting London rivalries to one side, in aid of supporting grassroots rugby.

Saracens and Harlequins are currently second and third in the Gallagher Premiership table, respectively, and will go head to head at the London Stadium on Saturday.

And while Isiekwe was frustrated by injury before the turn of the year, he hopes to finish the season on a strong note by helping his club retain the league title.

“This season has been a bit of a mixed bag, for me personally it was obviously annoying in the autumn to get injured as I had an ankle injury,” said Isiekwe.

“But I used that time to get better, get stronger and as a team we try and reflect more on our performances and try and work each week to get better.

“We always want to improve our performances and hopefully off the back of that results follow, but as long as our performances are getting better that’s the main thing for us.

“It is going to be a great occasion against Quins, it’s always nice to play at the London Stadium, like last year it was a very good atmosphere but we don’t linger too much about what it’s about.

“For us, it’s another game, another opportunity to get better, and another opportunity to play our way and put a stamp on the game in the Saracens’ way.

“That’s what we look forward to doing, putting a performance out there and making each other proud. We want to make memories on the pitch, that’s the big thing for us.”

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