CINDERFORD centre Jack Adams is hoping to re-ignite his international career when he makes his England Counties debut on Friday night.
Adams and club-mate Ben West have been named in the Counties squad who are seeking their first win on Irish soil when they travel to Cork to face an Ireland Club XV.
Outside centre Adams played all of the various age groups for his country at Under-16 and Under-18 before making his Gloucester debut aged just 18.
Impressive club performances by the youngster gained him selection for the England Under-21 squad alongside the likes of Danny Care, Tom Wood and now captain Chris Robshaw.
But in September 2005 the promising 18-year-old's season was ended when he snapped the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee while warming up for Moseley's Guinness A League game at Saracens.
The innocuous injury, which happened with no other players near him, meant he never played for England Under-21s and that was the last time he was involved in 15-a-side national honours.
He did go on to play for England Sevens and last appeared for them in 2008, but this will be the first time in eight years Adams has played the 15-man code for England.
After his last experience ended so badly the former Moseley and Bristol man says it will be a big honour playing for his country again, no matter what the level is.
"I went through all the age groups including the 16s and 18s for England, and when I was 18 that was when we had the Under-21 squad," he said.
"They had some outstanding players at the time then and I was lucky to be picked for that.
"We had a very good age group with the likes of Danny Care, Lee Dickson, Chris Robshaw and Tom Wood.
"I've not spoken to those boys properly for a good few years but I grew up playing with them so it's good to see them running around in the white shirt now.
"I was told on the Saturday that I was included but the squad was not being named until the Monday.
"I then played a second team game on the Monday night and ended up snapping my ACL that evening, which meant that I could not play for the Under-21s.
"I've not represented England since in a 15-a-side game so I'm looking forward to it.
"It's the red rose on your chest at the end of the day. That's the bottom line really, that's all you want to play for.
"It's a massive honour. Every rugby player who plays at the moment would not say no to playing for their country at any level whatsoever.
"It's a decent level of rugby and we're playing an Irish team who pick from a lot more players than we do, so it will be a good challenge."
The squad will train together for the first time today before flying out tonight, and then have two more sessions tomorrow before a team run on Friday with the match in the evening.
A lot of the players have never even met each other before, and because of limited preparation time Adams says communication has been done via e-mail and over the phone.
Adams will also link up with former Cinderford fly-half Rory Teague, who captains the squad after the pair played together in Gloucester's Academy.
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