MARK Easter has revealed how proud he is of his sibling Nick, who was named in the England Rugby Training Squad for the Rugby World Cup last week.

Big Brother Nick has made 51 appearances for his country, and was recalled into the squad by head coach Stuart Lancaster for the Six Nations earlier this year.

Speaking on the club's website, Mark said: "I'm very pleased for Nick, it will be quite an achievement to play in this World Cup.

"Hopefully he will get some game time in the next few weeks and lay a claim down to play and get named in the final squad. He's played well over last season and deserved it."

While Nick is gunning for a World Cup spot alongside our own Danny Ciprani, Mark is focussing on the Sharks and is looking forward to finding out the dates for the European Rugby Challenge Cup matches on Friday.

He said: "It's definitely a hard competition, with a lot of quality teams involved at the Pool Stages.

"It is definitely something we can go for, after all silverware is the main aim for each season. If we target that, and look after our position in the league, we will have a successful year."

The squad are currently in their second block of pre-season and Mark revealed that it is going well so far, with the squad working very hard: "Our patterns are starting to take place so it's all positive so far.

"Our new signings in the pack of Neil Briggs and Bryn Evans has slotted in seamlessly and are great editions to the pack.

"Dimes and the rest of the coaches have been working us hard in scrum practice and that's tough, but hopefully we will get our rewards from it this season."

To watch Easter and the rest of the lads play this season at the AJ Bell Stadium, why not get yourself a Sharks Season Ticket? This includes tickets to all the Aviva Premiership games, three European Rugby Challenge Cup games plus the two Kings of the North fixtures. Ring 08444-994-994 or email info@salesharks.com with your name and number for a call back