ABERYSTWYTH’S Josh Hathaway bagged himself a 15 minute hat-trick on his England under 20s debut under the lights at Twickenham Stoop on Friday evening.

The former Penglais pupil said: “Friday’s match was a surreal experience and still hasn’t sunk in!

“As a team we stuck to our plans well, we put in a good shift right up until the final whistle even though momentum was against us for a while.

“We can now use that performance to push onto the next few games, we believe we can push on to the Italy side strong next Friday and follow up our performances with five more strong games.

“The support from back home and in around Gloucester was amazing and it was finally good to give back to them with a first game win.

“Looking forward to being back at ‘Holm’ next Friday and give the Gloucester fans a good performance.”

Josh joined Gloucester Rugby on a three-year contract from the Scarlets back in November, joining the Premiership outfit’s senior academy.

He began his playing career with Aberystwyth RFC where he also represented Ceredigion Schools U15s before joining the Scarlets Rugby academy.

The 6ft, 13st 3lb full back was selected to play on the wing by England U20 Men head coach Alan Dicken and made his debut on Friday night under the lights at Twickenham Stoop.

It didn’t take long for Hathaway to have an impact, crossing for his first try in the third minute. Hathaway crossed twice more before the 15 minute mark to give England a commanding lead.

The match ended England U20 41 – 36 Scotland U20.

Aberystwyth Rugby Club congratulated their former player, saying: “What a performance - 3 tries in a 15 minute period. Arbennig Joshua, we are all super proud of you.”

England U20 will play Italy next Friday at the Jingsholm Stadium in Gloucester.