Easter sure of a rising (From The Northern Echo)

Easter sure of a rising

10:02am Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

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NICK Easter is convinced England’s victory over Wales on Saturday is the start of a bright future and not just another false dawn.

The Harlequins No 8 was one of England’s outstanding performers as Martin Johnson’s men launched their RBS 6 Nations campaign with an encouraging 30-17 win.

Easter has been involved in significant England victories before – against Australia and France in the 2007 World Cup, Ireland in the 2008 Six Nations and the French again last season.

But he believes this victory could top the lot because it has finally provided tangible proof to both the players and fans that things are moving in the right direction.

That was particularly important in the wake of England’s miserable autumn campaign – which Easter missed through injury – when it had been virtually impossible to identify any progress at all.

‘‘It was up there as one of the most meaningful results I have been involved in,’’ said Easter.

‘‘We are just glad now that we have a yardstick and I don’t think it will be another false dawn. The environment is a lot more relaxed. As an international side, you try and achieve it becoming more like a club environment and player led, which Johnno is always striving for.

‘‘We are getting there. We have been together for two weeks, we have had one result, so I am not getting carried away but we are definitely heading in the right direction.

‘‘We are getting some sort of identity, which is what we want. To get the result with three tries, it was a good start. We showed character when Wales came back from 20-3 to 20-17.’’ Easter was at the centre of everything that worked well for England – but he knows they are still some distance from the finished article and will need to improve again against Italy on Sunday.

‘‘The first half was a bit turgid around the 10-metre lines. We tried to play a bit of rugby but defences are good at that stage,’’ said Easter.

‘‘One area we need to work on is taking the points when we are down there. We have to turn pressure into points and that is something we will learn.’’