James Haskell returns to the England team – Rugby News Update
James Haskell, the 27-year-old England No.8, is set to return to international rugby after a hiatus of almost a year, playing his last game against France at Auckland, on October 8, 2011.
He is relishing his chance to be back amongst the English, and is really excited about playing internationally once again, giving himself the tag of the 'new boy'.
"It's always an amazing honour to be asked to join the England squad, especially when the quality of competition is so high," he wrote in his blog for
MSN. "Guys like Chris Robshaw and Ben Morgan to name a few have set new back-row benchmarks in that white shirt.”
Haskell made his debut as an 18-year-old for London Wasps, and by the time he had made his international debut in 2007 against Wales at the Millennium Stadium, on March 17, 2007, he had already represented his country at the Saxons, Sevens, Under-21, Under-19
and Under-18 levels.
His breakthrough season was the 2006-2007, when he turned in man-of-the-match performances for the London Wasps, en-route to winning the Heineken Cup in 2007, which eventually earned him his first international call-up.
However, he missed out on the 2007 Rugby World Cup, but was recalled for the Six Nations that year, and in 2009, he surprisingly moved to the Stade De France. He believes that his time in France, Japan and now in New Zealand would have helped him improve
as a player.
“Taking the risk of ruling yourself out of contention for England is always a difficult pill to swallow, but my experiences in the last year, in Japan and now in New Zealand have been second to none. I have developed as a player, both on and off the field.”
Haskell is also excited at playing under the mentorship of Stuart Lancaster, who he believes has put the England team in a great shape. Lancaster has changed the England team after the dismal performance at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Haskell was part of the
squad and he would wants to make amends in his second coming, and add to the 42 caps that he has already earned with England.
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