IT'S been a great few days for Worcester Warriors and for me personally!

The victory over Leicester last Friday night was awesome. It was a great result for us. I thought the guys really fronted up right through the team and it was tremendous to watch.

I had two days off from training with England but there was no decision to make about what I was going to do. There are certain occasions that you don't want to miss and Leicester at home is certainly one of those.

We are a tight squad and it's hard being away but it was great to be there on the sidelines.

We're getting on so well. We are enjoying each other's company and it is exciting. We're enjoying the rugby that we are playing.

It was very pleasing and they battled hard, regardless of what team Leicester put out. Tigers have got strength in depth but our lads battled for 80 minutes. They came through and it was brilliant.

On Saturday I will be winning my first Test cap at Twickenham against Australia. It's been getting quite exciting in the camp this week and the mood has been very positive.

I've been asked if it was a surprise to get back in the England team after such a long time out, but I wasn't really thinking about it to be honest.

I was just concentrating on playing well for Worcester in some really hard games and I knew that everything else would take care of itself.

The easiest way to deal with it was not to worry and to make sure I played well for my club. If you keep your focus on that then things tend to happen.

It was a lovely surprise but in some respects, with everything going so well at Sixways, it is a tough time to be away and I'll certainly miss the craic.

But I don't think I need to worry about the captaincy with Reg (Tony Windo) in charge. He's certainly got plenty of experience on his side.

It's going to be a massive occasion on Saturday. It's very exciting and I just want to get out there and play some rugby.

I'm playing at number six but that won't be a problem. I played there for five years at Harlequins. There's not a huge difference at six or seven and, if anything, you see more ball at six. I'm just looking forward to playing.

It is going to be very tough against the Australian flankers George Smith and Phil Waugh. They are both good players. My whole family is coming down for the game and it should be a great occasion.

The Warriors boys are travelling to Sale on Friday, which is where I began my career.

You never want to miss any games but things are going pretty well at the moment. We've just got to repeat the same sort of form against Sale that we showed last Friday.

The players have come a long way and it will be a big test for us.