The match against Italy on Saturday proved to all the England players what we already knew: there are no easy games in this Six Nations Championship.
We had had a relaxing start to the trip as we had a rare chance to look around the city on our day off. Usually that’s the day we use for travel, but we were already in Rome on Thursday and so had a chance to visit the Sistine Chapel and the Pantheon. These kind of opportunities are one of the best things about playing international rugby and I always make sure I take them when I can.
But by the time the match came around, we knew it would be no walk in the park. There was an unbelievable national anthem for the home side before the match and even though rugby is not supposed to be their national sport, their crowd really got behind them and the passion translated to the team. We had a lot of fans there too and it always means a lot to hear them from the stands.
Italy are a very good side now. They do everything well: they’re strong in the tackle, they pass well, their defence is excellent. We found them hard to break down, especially in the first half, but we knew that if we stuck to our game plan, our fitness would eventually tell.
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At half time, the coach (Andy Robinson) pointed out a few areas that we should attack. He had noticed some holes and told us to go for them. If we kept playing in the right way and got our shape better in the second half, we knew we would be able to batter through - and we did.
But Italy will get a victory in this competition, I’m sure of that. They almost beat Ireland in Dublin and they showed enough strength against us to make me believe that they will definitely record at least one victory in their next three matches.
From a personal perspective, you always want to play the whole game so I was disappointed in that respect to be substituted, but the England bench is very strong. We have Laurence Dallaglio, Matt Dawson, James Simpson-Daniel who aren’t in the starting line-up. We’re all good mates and we’re a close-knit team, so I’m happy when the replacements come in and do a good job.
I was especially happy for James because I’ve known him for years. We played schools rugby together, then under 18s, 19s and 21s, so I know him well. He didn’t get long on the pitch but still scored.
Like all the other players, I’m back at my club now getting ready for next weekend’s match. We’re playing Worcester on Friday and we’ve got a lot of preparation to do for that match. It’s a quick turnaround; I’ll meet up with England again, probably on the Sunday night, and get ready for the Scotland match. I’ve never played at Murrayfield before, so am really looking forward to it, if selected.
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Scotland are another tough side. They have a very good pack with some excellent runners and I’m looking forward to getting together with the England coaches to decide on our strategy. Again, I’ll be focussing on improving all aspects of my game. I always feel I can play better and always feel that there’s something to learn from England’s excellent team of coaches.
We have all the momentum at the moment and obviously people are talking about the Grand Slam. But every week is different and every match is difficult. We’ll put all the hard work in and hope it pays off again in Edinburgh in two weeks’ time.