But former England Under-20 stand-off Miller, who turned 21 on Wednesday, has since found his route to the first-team rugby blocked at Kingston Park by Kiwi Jimmy Gopperth and the opportunity to challenge Hodgson became too tempting to resist.

"For me it was always a rugby move and it was a chance to further my career," said Miller who looks set to start the season for Sale after Hodgson decided to undergo shoulder surgery.

"To learn from Charlie Hodgson, who is a world class fly-half, was too good an opportunity to resist.

"In my eyes, you can never learn enough. So to have a guy like Charlie is great because he has experienced everything there is.

"I always try to watch fly-halves who are playing at the top level

"I was lucky to train alongside Jonny Wilkinson and Toby Flood early in my Newcastle career but I try to develop my own style by learning bits and pieces off them all rather than copying one of them.

"But I need game time at the top level to help my own game.

"From a personal point of I want to pushing Charlie as hard as I can to get game time. I want to get far more Premiership games under my belt."