England prop Paul Doran-Jones may still be the butt of most of his teammate’s jokes but is deadly serious about furthering his international ambitions.
The Gloucester powerhouse was a surprise call-up into Martin Johnson’s squad for the autumn international series last season, despite having played only 266minutes of competitive rugby for the Premiership outfit.
But the 25-year-old impressed enough with his debut performance against Argentina to warrant a place on tour to the Southern Hemisphere, where fine performances against the Australian Barbarians and New Zealand Maori earned him a place in this season’s EPS squad.
And Doran-Jones is keen to build on the impressive start to his international career, but insists he has some way to go before he considers himself an established England international.
“The summer was amazing – it was such a great experience for me,” said the 6ft 2in and 18stone prop.
“I managed to get quite a lot of game time and I felt I was going from strength to strength really.
“I learnt loads from being out there and just being around the likes of Shawsy, Tindall and the rest, all with amazing experience, helped me no end. It just rubs off on you.
“The coaches have also got a wealth of knowledge and they can help with little bits of your game you didn’t even know were a problem.
“But there are still a lot of things I need to improve on, it’s all still very raw really. But I felt that I put down a bit of a marker at times and showed what I was made of and hopefully made the coaches stand up and take notice.
“Having said that, I’m definitely still a newbie in the squad. I’ve just been sat down at lunch getting strips torn off me banter-wise but I’m quite an easy target I think – they get on me for everything and anything.”
Doran-Jones’ rise to the international stage has been nothing short of meteoric, having signed for Gloucester from Championship outfit London Welsh just months before his first cap.
Under the tutelage of legendary Kiwi prop Greg Somerville at the Cherry and Whites, his performances for the west-country side have made it easy to see why former head coach Dean Ryan put so much faith in bringing him to Kingsholm.
And with the emergence of other young English props such as Dan Cole and Matt Mullan as well as the experienced bodies of Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery, Doran-Jones admits he is willing to play on either side of the scrum to aid his selection chances.
He added: “There’s so much competition in the front row now and it’s great for England and the Premiership. It will drive everybody on to keep working.
“We know that if you don’t keep up with the work, you’ll be gone and that’s something that motivates me massively.
“Primarily I’m going to play tighthead but it doesn’t matter to me, I’ll play anywhere. I’ll just see what they say on a technical level.
“But with Sheridan coming back I don’t think I can compete size-wise at loosehead. I got in a lift with him for the first time and I was shadowed by him. He’s absolutely massive, but a lovely guy.”
