DONALD BARRELL, the former Watford Grammer School pupil, described his Saracens home debut on Sunday "as a dream come true".

The 20-year old Bushey-based forward was summoned from the bench just before the hour mark to replace Simon Raiwalui, the ex Fijian captain, and played his part in helping to secure a victory over Worcester Warriors that should stave off the threat of relegation.

"I'm a local lad, I've been in the Academy for six years now and always been a Saracens supporter. To make your home debut is brilliant and like a dream come true," said Barrell, who has further reason to cheer after being offered a new two-year contract.

"It was good to get involved, get my hands on the ball and throw myself around a bit. I've obviously got a lot ot work on but I'm very keen to impress. I've got a lot of work to do to establish myself so I'm really keen to take the chance when I get it."

Barrell has had to wait patiently for his opportunity. After making his competitive debut as a schoolboy against Northampton in 2004, it was almost a year before he featured again in the friendly against The Cats at Vicarage Road.

A complete reconstruction of his right ankle in October halted his progress further but he earned a call-up to the first-team squad against Sale Sharks recently after announcing his return to form and fitness with two tries in the A team friendly against Henley.

"I was hoping to be involved at the start of the season but I got injured playing in the Under-19 World Championships and had four months out," said Barrell.

"I had a good game against Henley and managed to get myself included in the squad.

"I didn't manage to get on against Sale but I kept my head down and trained hard in Portugal last week and was pleased to get the nod again. Its just nice to be back involved and playing in front of the home crowd."

Barrell clearly has the natural talent to suceed - he has been capped at every youth level by England - and his development can only be enchanced by working alongside luminaries such as Richard Hill and Taine Randell.

Although Barrell has his work cut out to establish himself as a regular in a back-row that features Hill, captain Hugh Vyvyan, England hopefuls Ben Skirving, Ben Russell, Dave Seymour and the highly-rated Steffon Armitage, he feels he is at the right place to flourish.

"The players and coaches around us at the club now are fantastic and it's a great learning curve for me.

"Being in this environment means you have got to be on your toes all the time. You've got learn from the experienced players and then be pushed by the people coming up behind you.

"I'm just eager to play catch up now."