England wing Jonny May has targeted continued improvements in his game after producing some of the best rugby of his career over the summer.
The Leicester Tigers wideman scored in all three Tests against South Africa in June, taking his streak to crossing in the last five times he has represented his county.
The 28-year-old though still believes he can add to his game that has so far returned 17 tries in 37 caps.
“I want to get smarter and I want to get faster and that is the product of years of working,” he told England Rugby.
“You spend your whole career working and every week looking at bits about how you can get better here or there.
“The end goal, and end product, is hopefully putting it out there at the weekend and playing some good rugby.
“I feel like over time I’ve gradually been getting better and I was playing my best rugby I think I’ve ever played out in South Africa.”
May’s preparations for the new season have included a two-week stint at the Michael Johnson Performance centre in Texas, where he interacted with American sprinter English Gardner and some NFL players.
“I like the training there, it’s perfect for what I want to do – I had a good couple of weeks there and I came back feeling good,” he added.
“The primary focus is on speed training, lots of agility, plyometrics, acceleration, top end speed; America don’t mess around with sports.”
England are next in action in November when they take on South Africa in the Quilter Internationals before facing New Zealand, Japan and Australia.
It is part of a big season for England which culminates in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, and May hopes the squad can use the tournament as motivation throughout the season.
“It’s exciting isn’t it being a World Cup year?”
“Let’s make sure it brings the best out of us, it is not something to burden us or stress us out it is something to get excited about.”