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The current Harlequins player Nick Easter is still hoping for an England call-up after he narrowly missed out on the 31-member squad selected for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. He came on as a substitute in the second warm-up game against France.
"I'm the next cab off the rank, so if anyone goes down I have got to be ready, I had a week off, a little bit of a sulk for a day, and now back in with Harlequins - keeping my sharpness with ball in hand and conditioning up - ready to answer any calls, and also moving on with my club”, The 37-year old Nick said, as BBC reports.
The Gloucester’s number eight Ben Morgan was preferred above Nick in the final 31-member squad while Saracens' George Kruis was selected as the fourth lock. Easter ensured that the selection process was not easy for the selectors and he was very close to an England call.
He added, “It's a cut-throat business and only 31 out of the 50 could make it, in myself I know I did as much as I could do to push it, and it did go to the eleventh hour. It was tight, I know it went down to the wire and the England coaches had a meeting into the night.”
The Harlequins number 8 Nick was brought back into the team for the 2015 Six Nations where he received his 50th cap for the national side. He added, “I was fortunate enough to go to the previous two World Cups. I would love to still play a part in this one, but it's been brilliant being back in, and let's hope I haven't just finished yet.”
The English Lions are grouped with Fiji, Australia, Wales and Uraguay in Pool A while the other 15 teams are distributed in 3 other Pools.
Nick is hopeful of a good show in the opening match against Fiji and realises the threat they possess. He said, “This is their World Cup final, they have had a lot of time to prepare, and will be analysing England with a fine tooth comb, as England will Fiji. I expect England to pull away in the last 20 minutes, but Fiji have the individuals to be a very, very dangerous team."
England will face Fiji on 18th September in their opening group match while they take on Wales on 26th September.
