VAL Rapava Ruskin may have spent time training with reigning European champions Toulon, but the prop insists helping Worcester Warriors to glory in the Greene King IPA Championship play-offs will prove an even greater experience.

The 22-year-old trained with the French giants from June 2013 to February 2014 before joining Warriors last year, going on to make 21 appearances in all competitions this season.

The Georgian-born player first moved to England when he was two years old and also spent time playing for Western Province in South Africa but always knew his future lay in this country.

Ruskin played his part as Warriors recorded a 38-15 victory against London Scottish at Sixways to set up a shoot-out with Bristol for a place in the Aviva Premiership.

“Obviously the aim is to help the club get back into the Premiership but nothing is easy in play-off rugby and we understand each match is going to be hard so we have to raise our performance," he said.

He added: “Training at Toulon was a great experience and to see how they conduct themselves on and off the pitch allowed me to understand what I have to do to reach that level.

“It’s a big personal goal of mine to play in the Premiership – that’s why I came to Worcester, to play with a great team and help them achieve their goals while they can show me stuff to improve and it’s a real honour to play here.”

Despite a remarkable start to the campaign which saw Ruskin score seven tries in his first nine games in all competitions, the prop says he was just benefitting from the skill of a dominant Warriors pack.

And while such try-scoring exploits may not be his main focus, Ruskin is hoping to continue his development under the guidance of director of rugby Dean Ryan, whatever happens this season.

“I’m quite happy with my season so far but I’ve never been one to just accept where I’m at as I want to keep striving forwards,” he said.

“I’m very humbled by how much I’ve learned from Dean since coming here and I’m happy to be able to play the way I am at this level and I want to keep progressing my game.

“Some of those tries were from the back of the maul or the scrum so I was just in the right place at the right time – it doesn’t matter who scores as long as the team crosses the line.”

Formed in 2009, the Greene King IPA Championship is the second tier of professional rugby union in England. To keep up-to-date with all the latest news follow @ChampRugby on Twitter, or visit www.rfu.com/championship