WILL Matthews is hopeful of keeping his place in England's squad for the London Sevens after an impressive debut in Singapore.

The Gloucester No 8, from Brize Norton, excelled in Asia, but admits he still faces a fight to play in the home leg of the IRB series on June 4 and 5.

Having overcome a cruciate ligament injury last year, he is also confident of playing a major role in Gloucester's future.

Matthews, 20, said: "It was a massive experience and I started every match, but the one against Hong Kong. I was the first choice prop.

"We beat Fiji, which was good because we lost to them in the semi-final of the World Cup.

"It would be nice to stay in the squad, but because I'm in the wider squad and not the core one it will be difficult."

But the former Millfield School pupil exceded his own expectations in Singapore, where England lost to New Zealand in the final, and will prove hard to drop.

Matthews said: "Usually young lads go to their first tournament and play a couple of games so it was amazing to start all but one.

"I scored a good try against Australia in the quarter-finals, which was nice.

"Against Scotland, we went down to five men and that was really hard work."