LEDBURY Rugby Club product Will Butler said it was a “dream come true” to make his Worcester Warriors debut in their European Challenge Cup clash in Russia.

The 18-year-old centre played 46 minutes of last Saturday’s Pool Three fixture against Enisei-STM in Moscow, which Warriors lost 19-12.

The former Hereford Cathedral School pupil fronted up against the likes of experienced Georgia international Davit Kacharava, who has 95 caps for his country.

"I was delighted and obviously very excited to get a chance to make my debut,” he said.

“Moscow is one of the biggest cities in the world and to get to represent Warriors was a dream come true.”

Although the result wasn't what he had hoped for, Butler insists the young Warriors will have learned from their Russian experience.

He said: "I thought I did quite well against their physical lads. We were challenged hard and as a backline we showed up.

"In attack we didn't execute as well as we'd have liked but with the first try we manipulated their defence quite nicely and we could've done with some more of that.

"I hadn’t played in that environment before. The weather was a challenge and it played into their hands a bit more than ours but we didn't adapt quick enough so it's another thing we can learn from and gain experience.”

Macclesfield-born Butler, whose dad Peter Butler is well known in the area for having played cricket for Colwall, cut his rugby teeth at Ledbury at the age of seven.

He remained with the Ross Road club through to under 17 level.

He is now part of Warriors’ academy and regularly plays for the club’s second string, Worcester Cavaliers, in the Aviva A-League on a Monday night.

Butler was also called up last week to England under 20s squad for the Six Nations.

He said: "Warriors give opportunities to young players and last weekend five or six of us were given the chance to show what we could do on the big stage.

"We learn together with the senior players, even if it's just the intricate parts of the game and it's great being around these guys every week and learning new things.”

Butler praised the support and resource within Worcester Warriors' Junior Academy Centre.

He said: "I had nutrition and strength and conditioning support at school every Wednesday and Friday so having a constant contact with the Warriors team helped prepare me for the academy.

"Recovery is a big thing that I didn't tap into before I started full-time rugby and these are all things I learned from having that contact within my junior academy centre at Hereford.”

Warriors face French Top 14 club Brive at Sixways in their second European fixture this Saturday (3pm) and Butler hopes to keep his place in the squad.

Butler said: "It will be a bit less physical against Brive and they'll want to play the ball a bit more and move it out wide which will be a different test to last weekend.

"But we want to get our stuff on the pitch and that's where we can thrive as we have a good attack, so it'll be an exciting game.”