Shrewsbury army veteran Clive Smith will go for gold in Australia at the 2018 Invictus Games after gaining inspiration from Rugby World Cup winner Jason Robinson and former British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton.

The 33-year-old, who lost both his legs whilst attempting to defuse a bomb in Afghanistan in 2010, will make his third Invictus Games appearance after clinching a stunning wheelchair basketball silver in Toronto last year.

And while former Lance Corporal Smith admits that the bond between his teammates is worth more than its weight in gold, the former sapper didn’t shy away from expressing his podium topping ambitions.

“The Invictus Games were originally all about trying to get people with similar circumstances, injuries and similar tales to tell, all back into one room,” said Smith, speaking at the Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge, where competitors had the opportunity to be selected to represent their nation in the event in Sydney.

“A lot of the guys have been together a lot as an entity and going through rehabilitation together.

“It keeps on getting bigger and bigger and the attendance figures speak for themselves.

“All the sports virtually sell out as soon as they go on sale and there’s obviously a massive draw for all the sports.

“I would be lying if I said we would be looking other than a gold medal with the rugby. We are not going there to make up the numbers. We are going there to compete and try to prove a point.

“We finished with silver in Toronto, so we are looking at taking that next step and coming out with gold in Sydney.”

Smith, who fronted the Royal British Legion's National Poppy Appeal in 2012, took part in the first Invictus Games in London where he competed in cycling, before opting to switch to wheelchair rugby.

Now the Great Britain wheelchair rugby captain is looking to beat the Australians in their own back yard, just as Robinson and Warburton, who roused the troops at Jaguar Land Rover’s Eastnor Castle, managed to do in their own careers.

“The Australians love to put on a party and I am sure it will be a great Games, I have no doubt about that,” he added.

“The Australians will be tough on their patch, they will have home field advantage and they will be the ones to watch for us.

“I envisage Sydney and the Australians will put the event up to the next level.

“I had surgery in Sydney three years ago, so my wife doesn’t fancy the travel. I am taking a couple of friends out there with us and I am sure it will be great.”

Jaguar Land Rover is the Presenting Partner of the Invictus Games, which takes place in Sydney, Australia from the 20th to 27th of October 2018. Jaguar Land Rover is using this year’s Invictus Games to lead and inform the debate on future mobility, and how its future technology could help people’s lives.