OLIVER Wilson has spoken of his delight at ‘blowing the cobwebs off’ - having made his return from injury in last night’s Under-19s season opener against St Helens.

The front-row star made his senior bow last year in the season-ending fixture against Hemel Stags and went on to shine for England Academy in December against Australia Schoolboys as they completed a series whitewash over the ‘Green and Golds’.

The 18-year-old marked his return to the fray with a try under the watchful eye of first-team head coach John Kear as a youthful Under-19s outfit went down 36-10 against a strong St Helens outfit.

Now back in action, the youngster has set his sights on making a return to the first-team fold.

Wilson said: “It felt good to blow the cobwebs off, I had been doing a lot of fitness work while I was out injured so I feel quite good at the minute.

“I was quite pleased with how I did – it has been six weeks since the operation and I am feeling good now and I am back.

“I know John was watching on and the aim for myself was just to get myself back out there and show what I can do.

“We had a young team out there with two young half-backs but there are a lot of positives to take from the game as well as things to learn.

“Physically we matched them but we gave away some stupid penalties and did not control the ruck as well as we wanted.

“All the young lads were great and we were up against a strong St Helens team and I think we got better as the game went on.”

Next up for Leigh Beattie’s under-19s is a trip to Kingston Park to take on Newcastle Thunder on Saturday, March 9, kick-off 2pm.