Ed Slater finished his own season on a high as he returned from long-term injury and ended the campaign with a try at Twickenham.Leicester Tigers club captain Slater missed the majority of the season following knee surgery on an injury picked up during last summer’s England tour, but returned in time to play in the wins over Wasps and Northampton plus the Aviva Premiership semi-final at Bath.
And on Sunday he was among the try-scorers for an England XV in their 73-12 victory over the Barbarians at Twickenham.
“It was a great feeling to run out there because I’ve never played in an England shirt at any level at Twickenham,” said Slater.
“From the day we arrived in camp, the guys have been excited about it and I think you saw that in the performance.
“The first half was really quick, there were a lot of tries and I think everyone was amazed by the pace of it. It was good to get to half-time with a big lead after a strong start.
“We got some confidence as we went on. Some of the guys were a bit nervous – playing for England at Twickenham is a big deal – but we got together pretty quickly. Other than one or two mistakes, it was good to see a side play like that coming together after just five or six days.”
Slater’s try came from an attacking lineout in the 20th minute and just moments later he looked to be on his way for another score, only to be denied by the covering defence.
“When I got on the end of that break, thought I was on for the try,” he smiled. “I was convinced I was running in – I’ll have to look at it again to see where the tackler come from.
“I was just excited to get out there and play. Me and Joe Launchbury came back from injury on the same weekend so we were just about in the same spot going into today.”
Slater also enjoyed going head to head with club colleague Brad Thorn who captained the Barbarians after announcing his retirement at the end of the season.
“Brad has been brilliant,” he said. “He’s a great bloke and it was nice to play against him – I think I got a couple of tackles in on him.”
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Slater signs off season with Twickenham try
3 June 2015 09:00

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