Stevens ready to emerge from wilderness with England recall

Since returning to the fold in late January, Saracens forward Stevens has not been on a losing team, either for new Premiership champions Saracens or at representative level with England Saxons.

After reeling off three influential displays for the Saxons during their successful Churchill Cup campaign, a senior squad recall now beckons.

Stevens won the last of his 32 England caps in November, 2008 but a lengthy suspension imposed for cocaine use then saw him banished to the sporting wilderness.

“Because I’ve played for England before, I know exactly the honour and esteem that goes with it,” he said, following Saxons’ 37-6 victory over Canada at Worcester that meant they lifted the Churchill Cup for a sixth time in nine seasons.

“I am very keen. I will work as hard as I can and see what happens.

“It has been a tough five months, but it is just week on week for me now.

“What I’ve said to myself throughout this whole tournament has been about performance and I am happy with the way I have performed.

“There is a lot of room for improvement, I know that, but I am happy with the way things are going.”

Stevens relished the Saxons environment and he will be the headline promotion by senior coach Martin Johnson from a squad that racked up 165 points and 23 tries in three games.

“Week on week, we have improved as a group of players,” added the 28-year-old. “I think there are definitely a lot of (Saxons) players who have put their hands up for selection in the future.

“When we got into that changing room we were really energetic and bouncy to go out there and win the game convincingly.”

Saxons head coach Stuart Lancaster, meanwhile, has no doubt about the impact Stevens made on a team that benefited enormously from his immense scrummaging power and work in the loose.

“From my point of view, Matt has been outstanding,” said former Leeds coach Lancaster.

“He came in, added an experienced voice and played three lots of 80 minutes on the bounce in the tournament.

“He has been great off the field, and on the field he has delivered for me and the other coaches. It’s a tick for me in the box.”

Johnson’s squad of 45 will include all the familiar faces responsible for England’s Six Nations title triumph earlier this year.

But there are likely to be some interesting additions, with the so-called ‘foreign legion’ possibly out in force.

Leicester’s Samoa-born centre Manu Tuilagi, who completes a suspension on Thursday for punching Northampton and England wing Chris Ashton during a feisty Premiership play-off encounter at Welford Road in May, can expect the call from Johnson.

Tuilagi’s Tigers team-mate Thomas Waldrom, born in New Zealand but who has an English grandmother, is another strong contender, along with two of Saracens’ South Africa-born contingent – centre Brad Barritt and lock Mouritz Botha.

It will be fascinating to see whether or not Johnson finds a place for former England captain Steve Borthwick, who led Saracens to title glory just three weeks ago.

Second-row Borthwick has not featured for England since last year’s Six Nations, having initially had a knee injury and then being omitted from the elite player squad announced by Johnson in July.

While the senior England group now takes centre stage, building towards World Cup warm-up Tests against Wales (home and away) and Ireland in August, the Saxons can reflect on a job well done during the final Churchill Cup competition.

With Canada and the United States now included in the International Rugby Board’s tournaments and tour schedule, it means they will play home Tests during June against top Test nations from next summer.

The decision to end a Churchill Cup agreement that began with the inaugural competition in 2003 was taken jointly by the Rugby Football Union, USA Rugby and Rugby Canada, in consultation with the IRB.

England comfortably brushed aside Canada at Sixways.

After posting 128 points in their opening two games against the United States and Tonga, England’s second string were expected to enjoy another try spree.

Two tries from wing Miles Benjamin underpinned England’s success, which also brought touchdowns for Charlie Sharples, James Gaskell and Jamie Gibson, with fly-half Rory Clegg kicking 12 points.

Lancaster said: “It is objective achieved, and alongside that to give some lads an opportunity for further development and try to push some forward – short term for the World Cup training squad, but also the long term.

“We need to continue to create development opportunities for players to play for England.

“We need to bridge the gap between Premiership rugby and international rugby and also give players an opportunity to come out of their club sides and work with different coaches and different players.”

England Saxons: Brown, Sharples, Trinder, Twelvetrees, Benjamin, Clegg, Hodgson, Mullan, Paice, Stevens, Botha, Kitchener, Gaskell, Johnson, Crane. Unused: Gray, Catt, Gibson, Fearns, Young, Goode, Ojo.

Canada: Evans, Hearn, Mackenzie, Smith, Pritchard, Monro, White, Buydens, Riordan, Marshall, Erichsen, Cudmore, Sinclair, O’Toole, Carpenter. Unused: Tiedemann, Franklin, Hotson, Dala, Makenzie, Hirayama, Trainor.

Referee: R Poite (France).

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