There is little doubt that the win over Australia on Saturday must be thought of as a turning point for England. To be able to compete and to win against a southern-hemisphere team is significant. There is no luck involved. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are in outstanding form at the moment. They do not give you victories, you have to earn them.
We did.
For me it was a little strange going back to the stadium where we won the World Cup seven years ago. I had a look around on Friday before the game when I went to practise kicking. It took me about 20 seconds to work out which end it was. I recognised the changing rooms from the Lions tour in 2001 as well as the World Cup. It was a little bit of a trip down memory lane.
Coming off the bench is quite challenging. You get a little respite on the nerves beforehand because you know you have to hold back on your usual preparations. You can’t be buzzing from minute one, if you peak, the energy you need is spent.
But you do not know when you might be coming on so you have to stay alert, watching every breakdown, looking to see if everyone is all right. As someone who likes to be in control of the match for as much as I can, being on the bench means a hell of a lot goes out of the window.
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Converting that penalty in the 53rd minute to make it 21-20 was satisfying. When you get an opportunity you have to go for it. It was nice because these things carry an effect into the game momentum-wise. Looking at the opposition being behind with ten minutes remaining is very different from having to chase the game.
I would like to trust my knowledge of the game after the amount of work I have put into it and you know when you have the makings of a good team. We do. I have seen it for a while and you have to trust your instinct that you are not wrong.
You can see it in the guys. When we have said in press conferences that you have to learn from defeats, it is exactly that. After a while these things have to fall into place and they did. For us, however, it is not the end of the learning, but we know the process is right. After the first Test, which we lost 27-17 in Perth, we knew we had let ourselves down.
One or two players have also come on. Ben Youngs at scrum half in his first full game knows what needs to be done and is beginning to lead by example. Same deal with Courtney Lawes.
With the World Cup in New Zealand only a little more than a year away the bits are falling into place even if the public did not believe it. Now it is up to us to develop.
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I have just finished a full year of non-stop rugby. Playing a full season or even half a season is not something I have done for seven years.
I have a few weeks off and will watch the football. There is a lot of pressure on the England football guys. It is never easy. The talent is there. I can relate to what has gone on over the past few days to what I and England as a team experienced at the 2007 World Cup in France.
It is one occasion every four years and you have to make things happen. If it is not quite happening, despite everything you are doing, then you have to try to identify what the problem is. After our defeat (36-0 in the pool stage) to South Africa we had a meeting and whatever it was that was missing we managed to recover it.
I am sure the England boys will do so, too.