London Irish's Jamie Gibson enjoys his rugby odyssey

Gibson has represented England U20 as well as London Irish this season

London Irish student flanker Jamie Gibson says he would not be able to separate his studies from his rugby.

The 19-year-old classicist at University College, Oxford, says he has no intention of dropping either the rugby or the studying.

He told BBC Berkshire: "I'm the sort of person that if I have any time off, I'm thinking about the work I should be doing or the rugby I should be playing.

"Without one of them, I think I'd burn out pretty quickly."

Gibson added: "Since I've been 14 or 15, when things started to pick up, I've always had to work the rugby around the academic side or the other way round, depending on the time of year.

There are probably several jokes a day about it... if there's ever a question asked it's always me who has to answer it, even if it's nothing that I know about

Jamie Gibson

"So far I've been managing to do both - we'll see how it goes - but that's certainly the intention.

"It'll be a busy four years, but I don't think anybody else would be complaining if they were in my situation."

Gibson commutes from Oxford to train with Irish at their Sunbury base and explained how he fits his studies in.

"I always bring a book up with me so if we have a couple of hours between training I might go and sit down for half an hour or so," he said.

"In the evenings when I get back, nothing really happens between six and eight, so I do a couple of hours then. On my days off I'll work for five or six hours.

"So far it's been manageable. Fortunately with my subject it's much more about your own reading than lectures, so I'm able to do that in my own time.

"I've made a good group of friends very quickly. They're slightly surprised that I can keep it going, but they're brilliant about it. If I want a cup of tea or to sit and relax, they'll stop and have a chat and help me as much as they can."

He added his London Irish team-mates were a little less supportive.

"There are probably several jokes a day about it. They tease me about it - if there's ever a question asked it's always me who has to answer it, even if it's nothing that I know about," he said.

"But they've all helped me as much as they can, especially the coaches like Neal Hatley and Justin Bishop - they're willing to put in all the time that I need and help me organise things around my work."