Nineteen-year-old Sale Sharks and England u20 star-on-the-rise Henry Thomas is currently one of the brightest international prospects and a player to look out for in the years to come.

Prop Thomas, who made his England u20 debut in the team's 26-20 win over Wales at Parc y Scarlets in early February, has thrived as a player since a young age and earned himself national selection at u16, u18 and recently at u20 level.

Thomas's budding career has been nurtured by a series of mentors, beginning with his father Nigel; a former London Welsh player. He has also enjoyed the expertise of Peter Anglesea at Sale, and school coach John Mallett.

"I have been influenced by many people, including my dad and my various coaches," he explains.

"They have helped me tremendously and I'm extremely grateful for the support they offered and knowledge they shared with me."

Kingston-born Thomas attended prestigious English school Millfield, where he captained the 1st XV during his final year. He describes his time there as being "life- changing" and commends the school for the calibre of players they seem to be breeding.

"I absolutely loved my time at Millfield and my overall school experience there was fantastic. From the boarding to the superb facilities and coaching, I enjoyed every minute of it.

"Four of us that played together at school-level have come up to the England u20 side, just proving the depth and strong rugby structures at the school. There is no doubt that I have Millfield to thank for turning me into the player that I am today."

Thomas, who grew up in Bath, made the difficult decision to head north to kick-off his tertiary studies in 2010 and, in the process, discarded any further opportunities at the Bath Rugby Academy. The big move paid off, however, with the 110kg youngster earning himself a berth in the Sale Sharks' starting line-up by March this year. He is honoured to have been selected to start in several games and has been surprised at the progress he has made.

"I have definitely been a bit dumbfounded by how well I have done this season," Thomas says.

"I expected a year of conditioning and working my way up the ranks slowly but I am just really lucky and so grateful that I got a break early on."

While he describes juggling his studies at Manchester University with playing professional rugby as a challenge, Thomas is determined to complete his degree and continue on his road to international rugby success.

"This has been a tough year for me because I underestimated the workload that rugby and a degree would bring, but I believe it is important to complete my degree – even though rugby is starting to come first," he chuckles.

When asked whether he plans to return to Bath and possibly play for his home club, Thomas made it clear that he remains open to any opportunities that life may bring and is keen to see what the future has in store for him.

"My plan was always to move away from Bath as it is a small town and I wanted to grow, but if the future brings about an opportunity to return then I will definitely consider it.

"What counts now is that I am with Sale for three years and just need to continue to work hard here."

Thomas is currently in Italy with his England u20 teammates as they prepare to do battle in the IRB Junior World Championships. Watch him go head-to-head against some of the world's finest young stars as he continues to prove his worth and aims to catch the eyes of England's top-level selectors.