Dingwall glad to make an impact

FRASER Dingwall waited more than a year for his third England cap and admits there were times when he wondered if he would pull on the white jersey again.

- Paul Rees

Northampton centre Dingwall played in the opening two matches of last year’s Six Nations against Italy and Wales but lost his place when Ollie Lawrence recovered from injury. He went on the summer tour to New Zealand without playing, was injured at the start of the autumn series and was left out at the start of this year’s Championship.

He did captain England A against Australia last November, which showed how much head coach Steve Borthwick valued him and, after a misfire in attack and defence against Scotland, he was recalled for the Twickenham clash against Italy.

“It has been really satisfying,” said the 25-year old who kept his place for last weekend’s carnival in Cardiff. “It has been a bit of a journey for me since the last Six Nations when I had a couple of games which went well but not as much as I hoped. I was out of the side but felt I was slowly moving back towards it. It did not come as soon as I hoped and I had to push and push but there were times when I was not sure how long! would have to stick at it for or whether it would come.

“It did and I think I contributed to two good wins. Steve talked about how he wanted me to bring my influence on to the pitch as I did for my club, link with the other Saints players and make both the attack and defence function as best as I could. It was all about making an impact.”