Louis Deacon took on an added responsibility in only his fourth international appearance as England beat Scotland 42-20 at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Leicester Tigers second row saluted a winning start to the RBS 6 Nations campaign under new head coach Brian Ashton and said: "The win was obviously important and we just wanted to take this as the first game then take it on from there. A good start is important in any competition, but especially as we have the first two games at home this year, against Scotland and then Italy.
"Personally, I was also happy with the way things went. I was running the line-out and I thought that went well. It helps when you have got some familiar faces around you, with Martin Corry in there, George Chuter throwing in and Harry Ellis at scrum-half. I had not run a line-out for a while with Leicester, where Ben Kay and Leo Cullen have been making the calls, but John Wells showed faith in me and that helps your confidence as a player. Players like Steve Borthwick and Ben have been calling the line-outs with England so you have got a lot to live up to."
Deacon lined up opposite club colleague James Hamilton, who was making his first start for Scotland, but he said the personal duel was forgotten in the heat of the battle.
"The atmosphere was amazing with 82,000 people in there and they really got behind the team. As soon as you are playing the game, the opposition is just a player in a blue shirt so I didn't once think about it being Jim," he said.
"The England forwards prepared a good platform with scrums and the driving mauls, and I think the backs were very happy with that. I thought Harry Ellis was very close to being man of the match. Breaking off the back of scrums and rucks, he looked dangerous."
Next up for England is a home match against Italy on Saturday.
"I think [forwards coach] John Wells wants a certain type of forward pack to dominate the opposition and we did that, though we know we will have to do that again next weekend and be very physical against Italy up front," said Deacon. "I have been in and out of the squad before but hopefully I can get another chance."
The Leicester Tigers second row saluted a winning start to the RBS 6 Nations campaign under new head coach Brian Ashton and said: "The win was obviously important and we just wanted to take this as the first game then take it on from there. A good start is important in any competition, but especially as we have the first two games at home this year, against Scotland and then Italy.
"Personally, I was also happy with the way things went. I was running the line-out and I thought that went well. It helps when you have got some familiar faces around you, with Martin Corry in there, George Chuter throwing in and Harry Ellis at scrum-half. I had not run a line-out for a while with Leicester, where Ben Kay and Leo Cullen have been making the calls, but John Wells showed faith in me and that helps your confidence as a player. Players like Steve Borthwick and Ben have been calling the line-outs with England so you have got a lot to live up to."
Deacon lined up opposite club colleague James Hamilton, who was making his first start for Scotland, but he said the personal duel was forgotten in the heat of the battle.
"The atmosphere was amazing with 82,000 people in there and they really got behind the team. As soon as you are playing the game, the opposition is just a player in a blue shirt so I didn't once think about it being Jim," he said.
"The England forwards prepared a good platform with scrums and the driving mauls, and I think the backs were very happy with that. I thought Harry Ellis was very close to being man of the match. Breaking off the back of scrums and rucks, he looked dangerous."
Next up for England is a home match against Italy on Saturday.
"I think [forwards coach] John Wells wants a certain type of forward pack to dominate the opposition and we did that, though we know we will have to do that again next weekend and be very physical against Italy up front," said Deacon. "I have been in and out of the squad before but hopefully I can get another chance."
