England's David Tibbott has set a record for the shortest close season on record.

The former Haywards Heath and Brighton College centre had just one day off after representing his nation at the under-21 World Cup in South Africa.

He was back on the road at 5.30am yesterday, aiming for Wasps' training ground in West London and dreaming of a Premiership chance.

The 20-year-old centre was one of four players from Sussex who helped England to seventh spot in the first World Cup at the younger age level.

Ben Hampson, from Hove, showed his versatility at outside half, despite being better known as a No. 9 with his club Saracens.

Saracens prop Adam Halsey, who comes from Crawley Down and has played for both Crawley and Haywards Heath, also featured, despite being laid low by concussion at one stage of the trip.

Wasps lock Mike 'Ox' McCarthy, from Crawley, scored a try in the final game, a 74-14 rout of Argentina at Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

All will aim to continue their progress as pre-season gets underway at their top flight clubs this week.

Tibbott, who has suffered a series of injury setbacks in the last year and a half, said: "I feel really fit now fit.

"We were training at 6,000ft in Johannesburg and I have come back here and found things a bit easier.

"The altitude made it hard work so out fitness levels had to be that much better but it was a good trip and the rugby was awesome."

Tibbott admitted England were disappointed with their final placing but insisted not too much should be read into their results.

He said: "The way England play takes a long time to get used to. We had a week to get ready and it took the senior team four years to get things right.

"There were other problems too. Six players had to go home injured and a lot of the team came down with the flu.

"I was in bed ill before we played Ireland. I couldn't even share a room with anybody in case they caught it. I still had to play because we were so short but I came off with ten minutes to go."

England lost that one 28-15 but Tibbott believes his efforts throughout the event impressed coach Brian Ashton and his staff.

He said: "It was a bit of a different role for me. I'm quite big and I usually take the ball on and look to create a target but they wanted me to play a bit more Mike Catt, throwing out long passes and distributing the ball more."

That extra experience will come in useful when the domestic season starts. Tibbott still has a year to go with Wasps under-21s, who won the Championship in spectacular style at Twickenham recently, but hopes to get a chance alongside the likes of Alex King and Rob Howley in the front side.

The next steps towards that are to sign a new one-year deal, which should happen in the next few days, and hope for better luck with injuries.

He said: "I have been fit for four of the last 16 months. Fortunately I got together with Paul Wills, a personal trainer from Haywards Heath, and without him I would not be anywhere near as fit as I am now."

Wills' work helped Tibbott line-up alongside county colleagues McCarthy, Steve Millard and John Hart for Wasps' Twickenham triumph.

That win was screened on Sky Sports, though Tibbott admits he felt cameras from another channel were tracking him in South Africa.

He said: "It felt like living in the Big Brother house out there "We had to rest between games and going out in Jo'burg was pretty dangerous, so we spent our time in the hotel.

"It was quite boring between matches but it was a fantastic experience."