FACEBOOK messages from people you don't know are easy to ignore - often with good reason.

It is a good job, however, that Taunton Titans winger Aron Struminski chose to respond when the name of Duaine Lindsay dropped into his inbox asking if he would be interested in representing Poland in their upcoming Rugby Europe Trophy matches.

Lindsay, Poland's coach who has a nomadic CV in the rugby world, had been alerted to Struminski's name and opened the door to international rugby for the Taunton man - but not after some initial scepticism.

"At first, I thought it must be a hoax or a wind-up," Struminski told the County Gazette with a laugh.

"It came completely out of the blue but I looked into it and found out he was who he said he was.

"Poland have a guy over here who looks into newspaper reports of various matches around the country - my name is fairly unique, he had spotted it and it went from there."

Struminski qualifies for Poland through his grandfather, who moved to the UK during the war, but had never visited the country prior to meeting up with the national squad for a training camp three weeks ago.

"I had no idea what to expect," he said.

"The first night was quite strange - I shook everyone's hands but they were quite quiet and I assumed nobody spoke much English.

"I spent that night in my room jotting down the basics of Polish and, once I had tried to communicate in Polish with the squad, it turned out they all spoke really good English.

"I think they respected the fact I made the effort and, once I got to know them, they were such a lovely bunch of lads. I was the only Englishman there, but there was a Frenchman and an Australian.

"I had to try and learn the rugby lingo very quickly - things like 'left, right, pass' and all the set moves.

"Polish is a tough language to learn - they have three different ways of saying thank you - and their grammar is very different to ours, but by the end of that first week I had the basics covered."

With the language barrier safely negotiated, the flying winger made his international bow against Lithuania on November 3 and played his part in a convincing 33-0 win.

“That was a great experience,” he said.

“It was played at a big football stadium in Lodz in front of 2,000 people, the atmosphere was great and it was amazing to have a taste of it.

“My parents came out with me. None of us had been out there before and my Grandad never really spoke too much about what it was like. To go and explore the country, learning about the culture and our family history over there, made the whole occasion very special.”

Struminski was back in the side for last Saturday’s clash against the Netherlands, which saw Poland beaten 49-0, but the winger was comfortable with the standard of play – and he may not even be the last Taunton winger to earn Polish caps.

“The Lithuania game was probably a lower-standard National 2 level, and the Netherlands was like a higher-standard National 2 level,” he said.

“Poland take their rugby seriously and I really think there is potential to push on. [Taunton’s] Oscar Kolowski has been part of the set-up at Under-18 level and the forwards were enormous – as powerful as any I’ve played with or against.”

Struminski, who was last season’s County Gazette player of the season after a prolific campaign at Hyde Park, also relished the lifestyle that came with being an international player.

“While you are there, you are a full-time rugby player – you eat, sleep and train like a professional,” he said.

“We trained at an Olympic training centre which Wales have previously used and the facilities were amazing.

“To sample that way of life has been awesome, but it has made me jealous of those who live that way all the time.”

Poland’s next game is against Portugal in February – “the best team in our group”, according to the Titans winger – as the nations battle it out to make it into a promotion play-off. Victory in that would put Poland in a group of countries eligible for World Cup qualification but, for now, Struminski is still pinching himself at the opportunity he has been provided with.

“It’s a cliché, but it’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments you don’t expect at all,” he said.

“Someone asked me a few years ago about the possibility of playing for Poland but I never really thought too seriously about it as I just didn’t think it would ever happen. It has been so different to what I am used to - I loved it."