But very much in his mentor’s image, Saull is keen to play down his own chances of snatching the England openside berth.

Instead he was quick to pay tribute to the work done by Hill and England captain Steve Borthwick for their role in his stunning form.

He said: “You always work hard on your own game and as a young guy I am incredibly lucky to have Richard Hill, Paul Gustard and Alex Sanderson to learn off – how can you fail to learn off them?

“With Richard the main thing he works on me with is the lines I run and getting my body angle right at the breakdown.

“He can’t teach me everything – so much of what he learnt came from experience which you can’t replicate.

“It is always constructive criticism with him showing me areas I can improve on.

“Steve has also been a big help and is very approachable. I was sat down at a dinner with David Flatman recently and we both said we don’t understand why he gets so much criticism. He certainly does not get any criticism from the players he has played alongside.

“It is ridiculous people are talking about his captaincy because he is head and shoulders above all the other candidates for his leadership and technical ability.

“He was talking about how we were all crabs walking across the ocean floor that had us all in stitches.”